Governor calls special session to address 16 different bills

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers will return to the state capital for a special legislative session beginning Thursday, Gov. Joe Lombardo announced in a proclamation issued Wednesday afternoon.

The Republican governor called on the Democratic-majority Legislature to consider 16 bills, according to the announcement. They include policies on some of the high-profile debates that have played out in recent weeks, including a bill proposing tax credits tied to the development of a film studio in Nevada; the governor’s signature crime legislation addressing some criminal penalties and a specialty court program for the Strip; a proposal to increase traffic penalties in school zones; and funding to support relocation efforts for residents of a sinking neighborhood in North Las Vegas.

The proclamation makes Lombardo’s plans official to urge lawmakers to pick up unfinished business from the regular legislative session that ended in June.

Proclamation for Special Session by Las Vegas Review-Journal

“Nevadans deserve action now — not years from now — on legislation that implements critical public safety measures, expands health care access and supports good-paying jobs,” Lombardo said in the announcement. “By calling this special session, we are reaffirming our responsibility to act decisively and deliver meaningful results for the people of Nevada.”

On Oct. 6, the governor said he intended to call back the 63-member body to consider legislation that was left incomplete at the end of the 120-day session.

“Gov. Lombardo has called us back to Carson City for a Special Session, but it’s important to remember one thing — the Legislature does not set the agenda for this Special Session,” Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, said in a statement. “Instead, the Governor dictates the issues we are to address through his proclamation. The Assembly is here to ensure the legislation presented to us does, in fact, improve the quality of life for all Nevadans.”

What’s on the agenda?

Six bills from the 2025 regular legislative session and one from the 2023 session will be considered. They include:

■ Lombardo’s proposed criminal justice reform bill, Senate Bill 457, which proposes “revising provisions related to public safety, juvenile justice, pretrial release, and opioid use disorder.”

■ The proposed “Nevada Studio Infrastructure Jobs and Workforce Training Act,” which would expand the state’s film tax credit program and provide incentives for the construction of the Summerlin Studios project.

■ Senate Bill 450 from the 2023 session, which would provide support for the relocation efforts for the residents of Windsor Park in North Las Vegas.

■ Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro’s Senate Bill 434, which would create a health care grant program to address provider shortages.

■ Senate Bill 194, addressing insurance requirements for short-term vehicle leases.

■ Assembly Bill 404, revising laws governing the sale and regulation of alcoholic beverages.

■ Assembly Bill 600, which would clarify that sales made inside Legislative buildings go into the Legislative Fund and that every state entity must be part of one of the three branches of government. It also addresses property in Carson City that the Legislature may purchase.

Additionally, the announcement details other bill topics that the Legislature will consider bills about:

■ General assistance: creating the Silver State General Assistance Program within the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services. Senate Democrats said last week they would propose a state-funded solution to the disruption of food assistance benefits in the ongoing legal battle over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

■ School zone safety: increasing penalties and expanding local authority over school zone traffic enforcement.

■ Cybersecurity: establishing the security operations center and cybersecurity talent pipeline program within the office of the chief information officer.

■ Wage and hours: aligning Nevada labor standards with federal law.

■ Public officer privacy: expanding confidentiality protections for certain personal information and campaign-related expenses.

The proclamation also authorizes the Legislature to consider appropriations that would go toward:

■ Funding for indigent defense, rural judges and district attorneys.

■ A jail-based behavioral health program.

■ Wildland fire trucks for the Nevada Division of Forestry.

■ Investments in education, medical infrastructure and cybersecurity staffing.

About Nevada’s special legislative sessions

Nevada law prohibits campaign fundraising 15 days before a special session or the day after the proclamation calling a special session is issued, and the blackout period ends 15 days after a special session adjourns.

This is not the governor’s first special session — nor his second. Lombardo called on lawmakers to keep working in Carson City longer in June 2023, when a brief session was held to pass a capital projects budget that legislators had failed to pass by the end of the 82nd regular session. An eight-day session immediately followed to approve public funding for the Athletics’ ballpark in Las Vegas.

Though Nevada lawmakers are constitutionally required to meet every odd year, meetings can come more frequently since Nevadans enacted a 120-day session limit through a constitutional amendment passed in 1998. There have been 35 special sessions in Nevada’s history — 15 of which have occurred since 2001.

Special sessions are generally limited to 20 consecutive calendar days.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.