With one month to go before its June 1 scheduled adjournment, the 2009 Legislative session has heated up, and there are many pending bills that pertain to business. The Chamber's government affairs team has been working full-time to ensure that the interests of business are protected from onerous legislation, particularly from legislation that would harm businesses during these tough economic times.
In addition, the Chamber has been advocating for its reform agenda including making significant changes to the public employees' retirement system and benefits program. Here's an update on pending legislation that may affect your business and the fiscal health of our state.
The Chamber is proactively driving changes to the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) and the Public Employees' Benefits Program (PEBP). Combined, these programs currently have an unfunded liability of more than $10 billion, and it is likely even higher because of declines in the investment market. Unless significant changes are made to PERS and PEBP, the cost of paying these benefits will go up dramatically in the near future and will likely take dollars away from other priorities such as education and transportation.
Senate Bill (SB) 367 makes various changes to the provisions governing the Public Employees' Retirement System including many of the recommendations proposed by the Chamber.
The Economic Forum is meeting May 1, and it is likely to project even less revenue for the state than it projected in December. The Economic Forum is responsible for providing forecasts of the state's general fund revenues and by law its projections must be used by the Legislature in setting the state's budget. Although there are no specific proposals for revenue enhancements as of April 23, revenues may need to be increased in order for the state to provide essential services.
The Chamber has gone on record countless times during the Legislative session stating that considerable reform to PERS and PEBP must be addressed by the Legislature before the business community will consider increasing the tax burden on an already struggling economy.
The Chamber is firmly opposed to a gross receipts tax, a business income tax and increased taxes on the gaming industry. The Chamber remains committed to protecting the interests of businesses and ensuring that any additional taxes be as broad-based as possible, thereby limiting the impact on individual businesses.
There are several bills that would make it more costly for you to do business or would open your business up to more lawsuits or greater regulation.
Assembly Bill (AB) 22 changes provisions related to trade practices and would make it harder for you to defend against an accusation of deceptive trade practices. AB 381 would restrict the use of arbitration by businesses and could result in a major increase of litigation, costing your business more money. And AB 491 would make it tougher for businesses to collect debt for services rendered.
There are several bills that, if passed, will change Nevada's workers' compensation laws and negatively impact business. One of the most onerous is AB 178, which if passed, would change several key aspects of workers' compensation laws that would result in much higher costs for businesses. In addition, AB 511 would eliminate Nevada's no-fault workers' comp system as a sole remedy and would permit lawsuits against insurance companies, third-party administrators and employers.
Senator Steven Horsford has proposed SB 330, which enacts the Initiative for a World-Class Education in Nevada. The Chamber believes that this could be a significant step towards implementing a performance pay system for teachers that would result in rewarding teachers who are measurably improving student performance and the quality of education in our classrooms.
Currently, two bills are being considered that would establish a public education stabilization fund. They are SB 150 and AB 55. Creating such a fund is one of the Chamber's top reform priorities. It would allow money expressly for education to be set aside during good economic years that can be utilized to stabilize the education system during downturns in the economy.
The increasingly high cost of health insurance makes providing coverage a struggle, particularly for the selfemployed and small business. As a result, many of Nevada's workers remain uninsured.
AB 162 requires certain private sector health care plans and policies of insurance to provide an option of coverage for screening, diagnosing and treating autism spectrum disorders. While adding more coverage may sound like a good idea, mandates often increase the cost of health care insurance, making it even more expensive and causing more people to become uninsured.
AB 495 removes the $350,000 cap for noneconomic damages in a medical malpractice case if the doctor's conduct is determined to constitute gross negligence. The result of the legislation would be that by eliminating the cap, all suits would likely be filed alleging gross negligence. This bill, if passed, would likely drive up the cost of malpractice insurance, making it more difficult to recruit and retain medical specialists and potentially reducing the quality of health care for Nevadans.
It is imperative that the Legislature adopt a set of "best practices" when it comes to writing its biennial budget. The Chamber is supporting AB 165 that would make the current Budget Stabilization Fund a better tool to confront tough economic times.
If you have any questions regarding pending legislation, please contact Veronica Meter, Vice President of Government Affairs, at vmeter@lvchamber.com or 586-3815.
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