Committees OK bills on guns, drugs

CARSON CITY — Bills concerning drugs, guns and gender-affirming care are one step closer to becoming law after committee votes ahead of a Friday deadline.

Senate Bill 163 would require public and private health insurance plans to cover the treatment of conditions related to gender dysphoria and gender incongruence.

An amendment to the bill, introduced by its sponsor, state Sen. Melanie Scheible, D-Las Vegas, prohibits insurers from discriminating against a person based on their gender identity and clarifies that the bill does not mandate the coverage of cosmetic surgery, among other clarifying changes.

The bill passed out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on a vote of 6-2, with Sens. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas, and Jeff Stone, R-Henderson, voting no.

The committee also voted 5-3 to advance Senate Bill 302, which would prohibit a licensing board from disqualifying or disciplining someone for providing gender-affirming care and would bar the governor from issuing an arrest warrant for a health care provider who has provided such care in a state where it is illegal.

Lawmakers also approved an amendment to the bill that defines gender-affirming services, clarifies that the services do not include conversion therapy and includes pharmacies and pharmacists as health care providers protected under the bill.

Sens. Hammond, Stone and Carrie Buck, R-Henderson, voted against advancing the bill to the Senate floor.

Guns

Assembly Bill 354, amended by its sponsor, Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, would bar people from possessing a firearm within 100 feet of an entrance to an election site. The amendment also clarifies provisions of a 2021 bill related to firearms that lack serial numbers, also known as ghost guns.

The bill advanced out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a vote of 10-5. Assembly members Alexis Hansen, R-Sparks; Danielle Gallant, R-Las Vegas; Toby Yurek, R-Henderson; Ken Gray, R-Dayton; and Melissa Hardy, R-Henderson, voted against the measure.

The committee also voted to advance Assembly Bill 355, which would prohibit a person under the age of 21 from possessing a semiautomatic shotgun or semiautomatic rifle, and outlines penalties for anyone who helps someone younger than 21 in obtaining those firearms. The bill was amended to clarify that it doesn’t apply to members of the military or law enforcement officers under the age of 21.

Assembly members Hansen, Gallant, Yurek, Gray and Hardy voted no, but the bill advanced to the Assembly floor on a vote of 10-5.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee also voted unanimously to approve Assembly Bill 356, which would prohibit the use of electronic tracking devices on vehicles, except for police with a warrant. The bill comes after Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve discovered a tracking device on her car during a visit to a mechanic. An investigation is ongoing to determine who hired a private investigator to place the device on the vehicle.

Drugs

Lawmakers also voted on an amended version of Senate Bill 242, which would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to create a working group to review research and regulations related to the therapeutic use of psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced the bill to the Senate floor on a vote of 4-1, with Sen. Robin Titus, R-Wellington, as the only no vote. Titus is a physician.

Prior to an amendment that largely gutted the bill, the legislation would have allowed research facilities to apply to study the use of MDMA and mushrooms for the treatment of mental health problems, and would have decriminalized certain amounts of magic mushrooms for adults.

The committee also voted 3-2 to advance an amended version of Senate Bill 419, a sweeping piece of legislation that would expand Medicaid coverage to noncitizens and pregnant women. The bill would also expand coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients.

Titus and Stone voted against advancing the bill.

A previous version of this story misspelled the last name of Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at tavery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.