Marijuana testing, traffic camera tickets on tap in Nevada Legislature

CARSON CITY — For all the flair that the second week of the Nevada Legislature brought, the third week appears primed for a more traditional tone.

No measure is expected to dominate the week like Senate Bill 143, the expanded background check bill, did last week.

Up for discussion are topics that include donor breast milk, school sunscreen policies, marijuana in pre-employment drug tests and the potential that you might soon be issued a ticket by a machine instead of a police officer.

Monday

Sen. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas, has a bill that deals with donor breast milk up for discussion in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Senate Bill 115 would require the state’s Medicaid program to include coverage for breast milk for certain infants that is provided by a donor and prescribed by a physician.

Over in the Senate Education Committee, lawmakers will discuss Senate Bill 99, which would create the “Task Force on the Creation of a Career Pathway for Teachers,” which would analyze educator-related issues, including possibly creating separate tiers of teaching licenses based on scope of practice or experience.

Tuesday

Should police be able to issue tickets even if officers aren’t around to witness an infraction?

That’s what lawmakers will discuss when Senate Bill 43 comes up in the Senate Growth and Infrastructure Committee meeting.

The bill, proposed by the Nevada Department of Public Safety, would allow police to install unmanned devices that could issue traffic tickets.

Lawmakers outlawed the use of such devices in 1999 amid controversies about their accuracy and reliability.

Assembly Bill 123 would require more robust documentation and reporting for parents who don’t immunize their school-aged children.

That measure is up for a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee.

State law currently allows unimmunized children to be enrolled in school as long as the parents provide a written statement saying it is against their religious beliefs or if the child has a medical condition that doesn’t allow for it.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Connie Munk, D-Las Vegas, would require that the state and local public health officers be notified of the name of the child and what school the child attends.

Wednesday

A bill sponsored by all 13 Democratic senators seeks to make sure Nevada schoolchildren stay safe in the sun.

Senate Bill 159 would require school boards to adopt sun exposure policies that would have to state, in part, that students are allowed to wear hats and put sunscreen on themselves when out in the sun. It will be heard in the Senate Education Committee.

Cannabis has been legal since 2017, and a bill coming before the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee would make it illegal for an employer not to hire a person because the candidate tested positive for marijuana in a drug screening.

Assembly Bill 132 would not prevent employers from requiring that employees not use marijuana once they were hired.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.