Throughout the session, NFA was tracking bills that had any and all NSHE connections.  Some bills (not listed here) were related to teaching or other professional licensure or practice compacts, or had very specific connections to specific programs (meat harvesting anyone?). We focused mostly on issues that impacted most institutions or that helped with educational access and attainment.

Notable bills that made it through the session include:

• AB 153: Offers financial aid information and assistance with filling out the FAFSA for incarcerated persons.

• AB 269: Student loan repayment for providers of health care in underserved communities.

• AB 286: Establishes pilot programs for NSHE institutions to assess competencies of teachers using alternative licensure paths.

• AB 289: “The Board of Regents may establish a course in financial literacy.” This single sentence bill indicates a curricular priority of the legislature. Most institutions testified in support as they already provide financial literacy education in some form (specific course at UNLV, programming in orientation weeks by other institutions, elective courses, etc.).

• AB 345: Assemblymember Mosca’s constituent interest bill requires NSHE to develop policies around open education or low-cost course resources (a priority of NSHE student government leaders), study food insecurity issues experienced by students, and for NSHE to create data dashboards to track Nevada high school student success in NSHE institutions including whether they enroll in co-requisite courses, find employment after graduation, and completion rates.

• AB 394: NSHE institutions must create emergency plans for addressing opioid overdoses. This type of program is already available at some institutions, so this would help bring similar resources to all institutions.

• AB 462: Creates a Career Pathways Oversight Committee that includes NSHE members with one charge to evaluate dual enrollment programs offered by institutions; another part of the bill provides for financial aid and scholarships for teachers of dual enrollment programs to pursue graduate education in NSHE institutions. 

• SB 266: Providers of behavioral health services in underserved areas offered student loan repayment.

• SB 293: Allows institutions to directly compensate student athletes for name, image, and likeness or enter into other contracts related to NIL with the athletes.

• SB 406: NSHE cannot be sued for issues related to education delivered in Spring 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governor Vetoes Bills Related to Freedom to Read and Research

Governor Lombardo issued a lot of vetoes this session, including other bills supported by NSHE and NFA. AB 416 would have prevented banning or labeling books in NSHE libraries that Regents found offensive and would have required a developing policy to prevent limiting access to library resources. The bill also had similar provisions for K-12 and public libraries and would require anyone who wants to ban a book to go to court to make this request. The Governor vetoed this bill on the basis that it takes decision making out of parents and school district hands. Notably, Regent Boylan stated in the June quarterly meeting that he was very opposed to this bill (as he claimed it was nasty towards Regents), and was glad of the veto.

Lombardo vetoed two bills that were specifically brought forth by UNLV students (SB 156) and initiated by UNLV faculty (AB 328). SB 156 would address gun violence prevention and education by allowing the Attorney General to receive funds and provide grants for research on gun violence and prevention. This bill was amended over the course of the session with gun rights advocates first opposed for the state funding anything that might highlight negative impacts of guns and then opposed that funding would come from outside groups (such as Moms Demand Action) to fund gun violence prevention research. Knowing this bill was initiated by UNLV students and would support research efforts, NFA supported. Similarly, AB 328 would create a commission to study the impact of race and discrimination in Nevada and offer policy recommendations. The bill was also later amended to include a different committee related to Juneteenth. The Governor vetoed this bill solely due to the Juneteenth committee as that included a provision that local governments that celebrate Juneteenth should contribute to a Juneteenth Educational and Economic Fund. We wonder if the Governor would have still allowed the Racial Justice Study Committee to move forward.

Still Debating NSHE as the 4th branch of government

A last-minute bill (AB 600) aimed to clarify that different state agencies and boards are directly under a specific branch of government even though they might live in different parts of state statute. NSHE is one of those agencies that does have its own constitutional provision, so by a ruling of the Nevada Supreme Court, NSHE does technically operate autonomously from the Executive branch. Although the bill would not affect NSHE’s status, because the Nevada Supreme Court had not directly ruled on other agencies, the Governor vetoed this bill worried that it might be unconstitutional (and, we guess, affirms he sees NSHE as a fourth branch of government?).