NFB | Preparing For The NV 2023 Legislative Session

Preparing For The Nevada 2023 Legislative Session

By Doug Busselman | NFB Executive Vice President

The 82nd Nevada Legislative Session will kick off on February 6, 2023, and the 120-day adventure will

begin. After being locked out of the Legislative Building most of the 2021 Legislative Session, it will be good for citizens to be able to engage in-person with the legislative process. Having said that, it’s worth noting that for Nevadans across the state who aren’t able to travel to Carson City and be in the Legislative Building, the Nevada Legislature’s website (https:// www.leg.state.nv.us/) does provide an outstanding tool for following the legislative process. Committee meetings are made available to watch and it’s even possible to testify on bills that are being heard. The legislative website also provides copies of the bills when they are introduced as well as proposed amendments. Ideally, citizens across the state will continue to be interested and will continue to follow closely the discussions and deliberations that go into determining what laws will be added, changed, or possibly even deleted.

Nevada Farm Bureau has been an active participant in the legislative process for a number of years on a daily basis, attending committee meetings and working with elected representatives as advocates for the policy positions that our organization’s voting delegates have developed and adopted. From what we already know, the 2023 Nevada Legislature will be a busy one, with expected legislative proposals to cover a range of topic areas. Likely a large segment of those bills will fit into the important area of water. It would not be a surprise to discover that this session will deal with more proposals for water law than any of the past several sessions – and those sessions had a number of bills with lots of controversy. Many of the legislative proposals that relate to agricultural and natural resource-related matters go to the Natural Resource Committees of the Senate and the Assembly. Those committee assignments are just out. Members of the Senate Natural Resources committee include:

Senate Natural Resources Committee:

Senator Julie Pazina of Henderson, Chair Senator Melanie Scheible of Las Vegas, Vice Chair Senator Edgar Flores of Las Vegas Senator Pete Goicoechea of Eureka Senator Ira Hansen of Sparks Chair Pazina is serving in her first Nevada Legislature. The Vice Chair of the committee, Senator Scheible has served in the Senate for several sessions and was a past chair of the Natural Resources Committee, in her first session (2019). Senator Flores is serving in his first session as a Senator, but has served in a number of sessions in the Nevada Assembly. He was first elected to the Assembly in the 2014 election and was the chair of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee in the 2021 Legislature. Senator Goicoechea has also served as a past chair of the Natural Resources committee (2015 session) and will be termed out of office after this session has concluded. He was first elected to the Nevada Senate in 2012 and served in the Nevada Assembly for 10 years before that. Senator Hansen was first elected to the Nevada Senate in 2018 and was a Nevada Assemblyman before that. He has been a member of the Natural Resources Committees in each of the legislative bodies during his tenure in the Legislature. The 2021 Nevada Legislative Session saw the renaming of the committee that is now called the “Assembly Natural Resources Committee.” Prior to that the committee was know as the Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining (NaTRAM) committee. This year’s Assembly Natural Resources will have a fairly good balance of experienced members and those who will be serving in their first session for this committee. The membership includes:

Assembly Natural Resources Committee:

Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen of Henderson, Chair Assemblywoman Natha Anderson of Sparks, Vice Chair Assemblyman Howard Watts of Las Vegas Assemblywoman Shannon BilbrayAxlerod of Las Vegas Assemblywoman Bea Duran of Las Vegas Assemblywoman Venicia Considine of Las Vegas Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May of Las Vegas Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch of Reno Assemblywoman Alexis Hansen of Sparks Assemblyman Bert Gurr of Elko Assemblyman Rich DeLong of Reno Assemblyman Toby Yurek of Henderson Both Chair Cohen and Vice Chair Anderson served on the Natural Resources Committee in the 2021 Nevada Legislature when Chair Cohen was the Vice Chair. Assemblywoman Cohen has been involved in the legislative process going back to her first term in the 2013 Legislature and over the course of those years, she has been a member of the NatRAM committee.

Assemblyman Watts was the chair of the 2021 Natural Resources Committee and has been a member of the committee since first being elected to the 2019 Legislature. Assemblywoman Bilbray-Axlerod is another experienced member of the Natural Resources Committee. She was first elected to the Assembly in 2016 and during the 2019 Legislature was the Vice Chair of the NaTRAM committee.

Assemblywomen Brown-May and Hansen have prior experience on the committee as well with each of them having served in each of their prior years of service. Brown-May was first appointed to the 2021 Legislature for District 42 and Hansen started her service in the 2019 session.

Assemblywomen Duran and Considine have been in the Nevada Legislature during prior sessions, but this will be their first as members of the Natural Resources Committee. Duran had her first term in the 2019 Legislature and Considine was elected to the 2021 Legislature. The remaining members of the committee, Assemblywoman La Rue Hatch, Assemblyman Gurr, Assemblyman DeLong and Assemblyman Yurek, will be in their first year, having been elected in the 2022 election.