When I started this blog post, I assumed we were headed for at least a couple more days of legislative session. The night before, the Senate had gone well into the early morning hours, but by Wednesday a new bill SB 10, was introduced. The Governor’s proclamation remained open because there was a two-thirds majority… until suddenly there wasn’t. More on that later.

After hours of testimony in a rare joint Assembly and Senate hearing, SB 10 received a near-unanimous vote in the Senate. Then, for most of the afternoon, everything went quiet.

Around 8 p.m., the chaos returned. AB 5 came up for a vote, and after a series of passionate floor speeches, the bill died in the Senate. Moments later, SJR 1 was introduced and passed both houses, moving to codify Nevada’s mail-in ballot system through a constitutional amendment.

AB 5, the high-profile Hollywood Tax Incentive bill, ultimately failed to secure the necessary support in the Senate. Despite intense lobbying and emotional testimony from both supporters and opponents, the bill fell short. Its defeat signals ongoing concerns about large corporate tax incentives and leaves the future of film-related economic development legislation uncertain heading into the 2027 session.

In the end, SB 10 failed in the Assembly by just one vote. SB 4 and SB 5, however, passed. It was an eventful, whiplash-inducing day that encapsulated the intensity of the 36th Special Session.

At 10:19 p.m.—sine die. The session was over.

Even in the midst of the drama and tension, several important bills that LEAN championed made it through the process. These included:

• SB 6 – The Windsor Park Relocation
• SB 3 – Creation of the Silver State General Assistance Program
• SB 4 – Wide-ranging appropriations to critical programs
• SB 5 – Establishment of the Statewide Health Care Access and Recruitment Grant Program
• AB 6 – Creation of safe school zones

Several bills that progressed—despite LEAN’s opposition—included:

• AB 4, the Governor’s crime bill (even with added provisions barring federal immigration enforcement from schools and sensitive locations)
• SB 8, which incorporates federal FLSA and Portal-to-Portal exclusions into Nevada law, limiting what counts as paid work time following the Nevada Supreme Court’s Amazon v. Mallory decision

Though the special session has adjourned sine die, LEAN is already laying the groundwork for what comes next, and discerning which bills we want to champion moving forward.

We’ll be back in 2027.

Or who knows… maybe they’ll call another one sooner.

With you on the journey,
Pastor Paul