The 79th session of Nevada’s Legislature begins February 6. State lawmakers have a packed 120-day schedule ahead of them, introducing new bills, reviewing Governor Brian Sandoval’s 2017-2019 budget and discussing how shifting national politics will affect Nevada—and presumably, they’ll discuss the latter often, considering our national politics are shifting by the hour.
Many of the pre-filed bills—which you can see for yourself at leg.state.nv.us—appear to be revisions to current law. That’s fine; we know that what worked for us yesterday might not work for us tomorrow unless we make some tweaks. But following an election that completely upended the political order, we can’t help but wish that the Legislature had more of a radical agenda this year. Here’s what the Weekly staff wishes, perhaps naively, Nevada’s lawmakers would take action on.
A higher minimum wage. Our current minimum wage of $8.25 per hour, enacted in 2014, pales in comparison to those in Colorado (currently $9.30, increasing to $12 by 2020), Arizona ($10, increasing to $12 by 2020) and California ($10.50, increasing to $15 by 2022).
Speed up implementation of recreational marijuana sales. Not because we want the weed, but because we could use the money to shore up our despairing educational system. The sooner marijuana can start paying for our schools, the better. And yeah, some of us kinda want the weed.
Begin a phase-out of lightweight plastic supermarket bags. A number of American cities have taken steps to eliminate these wind-borne ecological disasters, and California has banned them entirely.
Protections for Nevada’s immigrants and Parent Parenthood, and safeguards for voter registration. Things are getting ugly. It’s time for Nevada to double down on the safety of its citizens.
