Legislative Briefing
February 26, 2021 SB95 - Revises Provisions Relating to Business Entities Earlier this week, the Henderson Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) testified on SB95, which could alter the legal definitions of terms commonly used in business. The Chamber supports the majority of these changes, however, at the hearing opposed the bill because of two sections in particular. These sections modified the current definition of the term “interest” in a way the Chamber felt would be harmful to business owners. If those sections of the bill are removed, the Chamber will be supportive of SB95.
SB107 - Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Termination Last week, the Chamber also testified on SB107, a bill that would lengthen the statute of limitations for wrongful termination. This bill was met with extreme opposition from the business community, particularly during pandemic times when businesses are already struggling. It appears that legislators had equal apprehension, as senators from both the Democratic and Republican caucuses expressed concerns. More updates on this issue will follow as it goes through the legislative process.
SB10 and SB64 - Property Tax Bills Implemented in 2005 to protect property owners from skyrocketing tax bills during the upswing in the real estate market, the cap on the yearly property tax increase had an unforeseen consequence once the market cooled and property values started to go down. Once values began to rapidly rise again, local governments were inhibited due to the caps set in 2005. Local governments rely on property taxes to fund the services they provide to their respective communities, and while services were cut and constrained in the downturn, they were also limited and constrained as the market returned. Many legislators are thus considering modifications to the formulas used to calculate the property tax cap as a solution. There are two property tax bills that have been introduced thus far: SB10 and SB64. SB10 would revise the formula for calculating the cap on increases of the property taxes on owner-occupied residential properties is 3%. Under this bill, the annual cap on increases of property taxes on any other property would not be less than 3% or more than 8%. SB64 is similar to SB10 but would also reduce the 1.5% depreciation rate on residential properties over 50 years to 1%. Updates will follow when hearings for these bills are scheduled.
Reapportionment Will Wait Until Fall As U.S. Census data will not be available to states until later this year, the Nevada Legislature cannot begin its reapportionment process that has the potential to impact the 2022 election cycle during the regular session.
State Economic Development Report Released Last week, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development posted its 2020 Annual Report.
Details on Innovation Zones Begin to Emerge This will be a fascinating discussion to watch unfold over the coming months. For those interested in this project, visit the Innovation Zones proposal website.
Stay Connected Links to all bill language, proposed amendments, scheduled meetings and legislators serving on various committees are available to the public via the State of Nevada’s NELIS website. Issues Update
Chamber Represents Tourism and Ancillary Business Members During Roundtable U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto hosted a stakeholder roundtable last week to discuss prospective relief plans as well as the need to support and recover Nevada’s critical tourism industry and ancillary businesses essential to support it. The Chamber continues to serve as a voice for its more than 1,800 members throughout Southern Nevada on this and other policy matters.
Feds Provide Small to Micro-sized Businesses Exclusive Access to PPP Funds for Two Weeks Earlier this week in Washington, the White House announced that small firms (those with fewer than 20 employees) may receive exclusive access to the federal PPP program from February 24 through March 9.
For members seeking a lender, PPP participating HCC member lenders include: PPP processing for existing clients only. PPP processing for existing clients only. PPP processing for existing clients only.
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