The Economic Forum met on May 1, and updated their revenue predictions for the upcoming biennium. The Forum predicted an additional $42M would be coming in the coffers compared to what they had predicted in December. It is a fairly small amount considering the entire state budget is $8.8B, so that leaves legislators with a lot of tough decisions on what they want to accomplish - there are a lot bills with fiscal impact in both the Senate (161 bills) and the Assembly (130 bills) and limited funding to cover them.

The pace is heating up in Carson City, with meetings getting scheduled over the weekends. The next important deadline is second house committee passage on May 17 - that means we'll see a lot of committee hearings and work sessions over the next two weeks. The Lobbying Team and the Legislative Management Team are hard at work protecting REALTOR® interests in what continues to be a very challenging session for our members. Please continue to stay alert for upcoming calls for action (CFAs) on certain bills. Your involvement does make a difference.

The last 30 days of the session are the most dangerous for our industry, as bad legislation originally killed earlier in the session can find their way back to life. Your team is on high alert and vigilant on your behalf.

There has been a lot of activity on bills tracked by NVR over the last week:

• SB230, the real estate licensing bill sponsored by Senator Mo Denis (Advocate: 4/26, 4/19, 3/29, 3/15, 2/22) was heard in Assembly Commerce and Labor on April 29. Legislative Chairman Kevin Sigstad testified in support on behalf of NVR.
• SB103, a bill designed to assist with affordable housing by allowing local governments to reduce or subsidize certain fees (Advocate: 2/15), was heard in Assembly Government Affairs on April 30.
• SB398, which would allow local governments to impose rent control and inclusionary zoning (Advocate: 4/26), was heard in Assembly Government Affairs on April 30.
• SB473, revising the definition of affordable housing (Advocate: 4/5), was heard in Assembly Government Affairs on April 30.
• SB117, a bill that originally contained language that would have required real estate agents to redact some recorded documents and has since evolved into the creation of a form available for homeowners to record (Advocate: 4/26, 3/15, 2/15), was passed with an amendment on May 1 in Assembly Judiciary.
• SB74, a bill on evictions (Advocate: 4/19, 2/8), was passed out of Assembly Judiciary on May 1.
• SB212, a measure dealing with non-consensual towing in residential complexes (Advocate: 3/8), was heard in Assembly Growth and Infrastructure on May 2.
• AB266, which pertains to the sealing of eviction records (Advocate: 3/29), passed out of Senate Judiciary on May 3.
• SB199, a bill that originally would have required real estate agents to disclose property taxes due to buyers and has since been amended to require communication between the recorder and the treasurer or assessor (Advocate: 3/29, 2/22), was heard in Assembly Government Affairs on May 3.
• SB367, which would allow pets in low-income housing (Advocate: 4/5), was heard in Assembly Government Affairs on May 3.

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SB448 is yet another bill intended to address the affordable housing issue. It would authorize the Housing Division to issue transferable tax credits that are authorized to be taken against certain state taxes to the sponsor of a project for the acquisition, development, construction, improvement, expansion, reconstruction or rehabilitation of low income housing, as defined by existing federal law.

The bill passed out of the Senate unanimously on April 23, and was heard in Assembly Taxation on May 2.

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The 80th Session of the Nevada Legislature began on February 4, 2019. May 3 is day 89 of the 120-day session.

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• • Economic Forum, Deadlines Looming
• • Transferable Tax Credit for Low Income Housing Projects
• • 2019 Session by the Numbers
• • Sign Up to Receive Calls to Action

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For more information, please contact:

• Nevada REALTORS® President Keith Lynam
• Nevada REALTORS® Legislative Chairman Kevin Sigstad
• Nevada REALTORS® CEO Teresa McKee