Legislative Cheat Sheet

Bills to Watch and Ways to Get Involved this Legislative Session 

With  the bill introduction deadline behind us, a better picture emerges of what lawmakers hope to accomplish during the 82nd Legislative Session. Aligned with ENN’s legislative priorities, we have detailed some important bills to watch and ways to participate in the process.

ENN aims to support bills that provide additional funding and resources for Nevada’s K-12 public schools, work to solve our teacher recruitment and retention crisis, promote equity and accountability in our schools, and avoid diverting critical resources to unaccountable and discriminatory programs. The following are some of the bills we are following this legislative session.

BILLS TO SUPPORT

Additional Resources & Equity for K-12 Public Schools  

SB 144 - SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Sen. Lange and several bipartisan co-sponsors, aims to improve resources, and thus access, to career and technical education programs (CTE) throughout the state. The bill would set aside $20 million in tax credits for businesses that choose to make donations to CTE programs in public or charter schools. ENN helped develop this bill, which has been adopted as a priority by the Southern Nevada Forum. We SUPPORT this bill because it encourages industries to take a more active role in workforce development, while students learn valuable skills to prepare them for the 21st-Century economy. 

SB 231 - SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Sen. Cannizzaro and several co-sponsors, allocates $250 million to support salary increases for Nevada’s licensed educators and paraprofessionals. Funds would be allocated by the Interim Finance committee to districts under the condition that the funds will supplement, rather than supplant, currently bargained salary increases. Nevada has some of the largest class sizes in the country and has difficulty competing with other states that are trying to fill their teacher vacancies. Additionally we have some of the largest counselor to student ratios at 1:500.  We SUPPORT this bill because Nevada educators deserve just compensation and we desperately need quality teachers and licensed staff to stay and thrive in our state.

SB 100 - SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Sen. Goicoechea, makes a $60 million allocation to White Pine County School District to support school construction. Due to its small population and lack of state funding to support school facilities, White Pine County students find themselves in some of the oldest schools in the state (and the country). At over 100-years-old, Norman Elementary School and White Pine Middle School have crippling issues that make the schools unsafe and not conducive to learning. Parts of the schools are decaying and at risk of catastrophic failure. Though many school buildings in Nevada need refurbishment, these schools, with an asbestos problem, no elevators to support students with disabilities, and fragile flooring, could eventually cause serious harm to students. We SUPPORT this bill because these schools are in crisis and have no way to improve unless our state takes action. Nevada students deserve better.

AB 323 - SUPPORT

This bill, Sponsored by Assem. Torres and several co-sponsors, aims to address barriers to teacher recruitment and retention in a variety of ways. It requires the State Superintendent to develop a strategic plan to address teacher recruitment and retention, removes barriers for educator licensing, financially incentivizes student educators, counselors, and librarian trainees working in our schools, and makes permanent a program that provides stipend and tuition assistance for students in teacher preparation programs. We SUPPORT this bill because Nevada must foster ways to recruit and retain educators and other professionals in our schools.  

  **Hearing set for Assembly Education Committee, April 4, 2023, 12:30pm. More info here.

AB 347 - SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Assem. Torres, provides a $15 million allocation for dual credit programs. These programs allow students to begin earning college credits while still in high school. ENN SUPPORTS this bill because dual-credit enrollment supports college and career readiness for Nevada students. 

SB 339 - SUPPORT

Sponsored by Sen. Dondero Loop and others, this bill provides a reimbursement for teachers that purchase certain school supplies for their classroom. Educators often spend their own money to support their students’ learning. We SUPPORT this bill because teachers should not have to shoulder the burden of purchasing basic school supplies for their classrooms. Read our testimony here.

AB 241 - SUPPORT

Sponsored  by Assem. Mosca, this bill would put every student on track to receive a College and Career Readiness diploma. This means students will receive courses geared toward career training, work-based learning, or college preparation. Many vulnerable student populations are often not encouraged or even aware of these valuable courses. This bill allows students to opt-out if they choose, but otherwise creates more equity for these college and career ready courses. ENN SUPPORTS this bill because all students deserve to be set up for success after high school. Read our testimony here.

AB282 - SUPPORT

Sponsored by Assem. Summers-Armstrong and Marzola, this bill requires school districts to provide long-term substitutes with a subsidy to purchase health insurance, provided they show proof of insurance purchase. Many long term subs are in classrooms filling teacher vacancies for weeks or months, but they do not receive this important benefit. ENN SUPPORTS this bill because it will help maintain stability in the classroom by supporting long-term substitutes. 

Increasing Accountability in Our Schools 

AB 399 - SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Yeager, creates a Subcommittee of Education Accountability as part of the Interim Finance Committee. It would consist of lawmakers from the Senate and Assembly meeting to “discuss, evaluate and make recommendations relating to accountability in public education in this State in order to improve the educational  achievements and outcomes for pupils.” The subcommittee can examine fiscal activities, district and school level decisions and policies, sufficiency in funding, among other important areas that impact whether our students are receiving the resources they need to succeed. We SUPPORT this bill because we agree that investments in education should be spent wisely, and lawmakers taking a greater role in understanding and evaluating K-12 finance and expenditures will ultimately improve our education system. Read our testimony here.

AB 395 - SUPPORT

Sponsored by Assem. Miller, this bill creates a committee, consisting of a wide variety of members, to oversee, examine, and make recommendations related to state, local and federal school spending. The bill identifies the committee’s focus on salaries, student mental health, school safety, special programs, staff training for implicit bias and cultural competencies, and any other area identified by the committee.  ENN SUPPORTS this bill because our communities and leaders should play an active role in understanding and influencing decisions on K-12 resources.

AB 149 - SUPPORT

Sponsored by Assem. Miller and Anderson, this bill creates an Office of the Inspector General for Education to handle complaints regarding fraud and misuse of funds by entities that receive  public education funds, such as school districts and charter schools. It also protects whistleblowers that may come forward to report issues. We SUPPORT this bill because confidence in the use of public education funding is critical to building trust.

BILLS TO OPPOSE

AB 459 - OPPOSE

Brought on behalf of the Governor’s Office of Finance, this bill would eliminate the Governor’s requirement to increase what the state contributes to education by inflation or a rate proportional to economic growth. Even though current law already permits flexibility, the fundamental purpose of this requirement was to express an intent to grow the education budget and promote transparency around K-12 funding. It intended to end a long history of using new or growing education-dedicated revenue to simply SUPPLANT the state's contribution to the education budget. Learn more about Nevada's sad history of supplanting vs. supplementing here. This requirement was one of the bright spots of the new school funding formula, and the Governor aims to undo it before it even begins.We STRONGLY OPPOSE AB 459 because the state budget should not be balanced on the backs of our kids.

Expanding Private School Vouchers

ENN opposes any bill that seeks to expand controversial private school vouchers. These schemes go by various names, “Choice Scholarships,” “Opportunity Scholarships” or “Education Savings Accounts.” Regardless of their name, voucher measures rely on taxpayer dollars but have little to no accountability, and they permit schools to discriminate for almost any reason (religion or lack thereof, LGBTQ status, inability to pay, student needs or outcomes). In other states that closely track student outcomes, voucher students often perform the same or worse than their public school peers. We OPPOSE any effort to expand access or spend taxpayer funds on these harmful programs because public dollars should go to public schools.

We urge you to speak up and OPPOSE:

AB 385 - (Assem. Hafen) Allocates $60 million to private school vouchers and expands eligibility.

SB 200 - (Sen. Hammond) Re-enacts a recently repealed universal voucher program, which would eventually result in every private school student eligible for taxpayer dollars, even the wealthiest.

SB 220 (Sen. Gansert, et al) Expanding funding and eligibility for private school vouchers, expanding the tax credit sources. 

At-risk Student Definition for the School Funding Formula Budget 

Though not a bill, hearings about the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan’s (PCFP) K-12 budgethas led to discussions around which students should receive additional “weighted” funding to address their unique educational needs. A regulation proposed by the Nevada Department of Education reduces the number of students eligible for the at-risk weight by 75%. NDE justified this change due to the fact that current insufficient funding levels cannot address the needs of all at-risk students, and this change targets funding to the bottom 20% of students. However, this regulatory change would amount to a permanent change in definition to address what should be a temporary problem - insufficient funding to support all at-risk students. ENN testified against the new definition and urged lawmakers to consider that 85% of FRL high school students are not proficient in math, meaning the effort to permanently reduce eligibility by such a staggering percentage is flawed. The weighted funding for at-risk students is not fully funded until every student with additional needs is supported. Read our testimony here.

As the session moves along, ENN will be identifying other bills that we believe are worth supporting, opposing, or monitoring. Please check back at our website’s “Legislative Cheat Sheet” for more information and updates.