Nevada Assembly
39.161643°N 119.766139°W The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member districts. Each district contained approximately 64,299 people as of the 2010 United States Census.[1] Term limits, limiting assembly members to six 2-year terms (12 years), took effect in 2010. Twelve members of the Nevada Assembly were termed out with the 2010 election serving their last legislative session in 2011.
Nevada Assembly | |
|---|---|
| Nevada Legislature | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | 6 terms (12 years) |
| History | |
| Preceded by | 81st Nevada Legislature |
New session started | February 6, 2023 |
| Leadership | |
Speaker | |
Speaker pro tempore | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 42 |
 | |
Political groups | Majority
Minority
|
Length of term | 2 years |
| Authority | Article 4, Constitution of Nevada |
| Salary | $146.90/day + per diem |
| Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 (42 seats) |
Next election | November 5, 2024 (42 seats) |
| Redistricting | Legislative control |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Assembly Chamber Legislative Building Carson City, Nevada | |
| Website | |
| Nevada State Assembly | |
The Nevada Assembly met at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City until 1971, when a separate Legislative Building was constructed south of the Capitol. The Legislative Building was expanded in 1997 to its current appearance to accommodate the growing Nevada Legislature. Since the 2012 session, Assembly districts have been formed by dividing the 21 Senate districts in half, so that each Assembly district is nested within a Senate district.
Meetings
The Assembly, like the Senate, is composed of citizen legislators, receiving a relatively small ($130) per diem fee for the first 60 days of a given session. This tends to self-selection, with legislative service difficult for those without flexible jobs and/or large outside incomes, such as doctors and lawyers. The Assembly, again like the Senate, meets however long is necessary for the completion of all its business, up to a maximum of 120 days, beginning the first Monday in February of every odd-numbered year. While this is designed to limit the amount of time a legislator is away from their first job, in recent years 120 days has often not been enough time to complete legislative business, and after four straight regular sessions, special sessions had been called to finish up legislative business. This trend ended in 2011, which was not followed by a special session.
Leadership of the Assembly
The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full Assembly on passage of a floor vote. Other Assembly leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.
Assembly Chamber
The Nevada Assembly convenes in the south chamber of the Legislative Building. The carpet in the Assembly chamber is mainly red, in comparison to the Senate chamber, which is blue. The chamber galleries reflect the same carpet schemes. Many legislative documents and binders are colored red and blue to distinguish them between the Assembly and the Senate. Although the chamber is separated by a center aisle, the Assemblymen are not seated by party. Rather they are seated at the discretion of the Speaker. The Speaker's desk is always the first desk in the front row to the right, if you are looking out at the chamber from the Speaker's rostrum. Above the Speaker is a large gavel, which is engraved with the name of Speaker Joe Dini; the longest serving Speaker of the Nevada Assembly. Above the gavel is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, who was President when Nevada became a State in 1864. To the left of the main door to the chamber is a podium with a Bible, which is changed to different passages by the Assembly Sargeant-at-Arms.
Since 2003, one floor session has always been held in the Old Assembly Chambers in the State Capitol. The session usually begins with a presentation from the State Archivist regarding the history of the chamber, and then legislative business proceeds as usual. Because there are no screens or voting equipment in the old chamber, all business is hand-written on a chalk board, as it would have been done when the Assembly still met in the Capitol.
All joint-meetings and joint-sessions are held in the Assembly chamber, including the State of the State Address, the State of the Judiciary Address, and addresses from Nevada's federal delegation. Unlike in Congress, where the Speaker of the House presides over all joint-meetings and sessions (except when Congress counts the Electoral Votes after a Presidential election), the President of the Senate presides over joint-meetings and sessions instead of the Speaker of the Assembly.
Composition
| ↓ | ||
| 28 | 14 | |
| Democratic | Republican | |
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) |
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lib | Republican | Vacant | ||
| Begin 77th February 2013 |
27 | 0 | 15 | 42 | 0 |
| End 77th November 2014 |
25 | 14 | 39 | 3 | |
| Begin 78th February 2015 |
17 | 0 | 25 | 42 | 0 |
| End 78th November 2016 |
1 | 24 | 42 | 0 | |
| Begin 79th February 2017 |
27 | 0 | 15 | 42 | 0 |
| September 22, 2017[2] |
14 | 41 | 1 | ||
| End 79th November 2018 | |||||
| Begin 80th February 2019 |
29 | 0 | 13 | 42 | 0 |
| May 4, 2019[3] | 28 | 41 | 1 | ||
| Begin 81st February 2021 |
26 | 0 | 16 | 42 | 0 |
| Begin 82nd February 2023 |
28 | 0 | 14 | 42 | 0 |
| Latest voting share | 67% | 33% | |||
Leadership of the Assembly
The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full Assembly on passage of a floor vote. Other Assembly leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.
| Position | Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker | Steve Yeager | Democratic | 9 |
| Speaker pro tempore | Daniele Monroe-Moreno | Democratic | 1 |
| Majority Leader | Sandra Jauregui | Democratic | 41 |
| Assistant Majority Floor Leader | Cameron Miller | Democratic | 7 |
| Majority Whip | Howard Watts III | Democratic | 15 |
| Assistant Majority Whip (North) | Sarah Peters | Democratic | 24 |
| Assistant Majority Whip (South) | Selena Torres | Democratic | 3 |
| Minority Leader | P. K. O'Neill | Republican | 40 |
| Assistant Minority Leader (North) | Jill Dickman | Republican | 31 |
| Assistant Minority Leader (South) | Danielle Gallant | Republican | 23 |
| Minority Whip | Rich DeLong | Republican | 26 |
Members
| District | Name | Party | Residence | First elected/appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniele Monroe-Moreno | Democratic | North Las Vegas | 2016 | 4th |
| 2 | Heidi Kasama | Republican | Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 3 | Selena Torres | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2018 | 3rd |
| 4 | Richard McArthur | Republican | Las Vegas | 2008, 2016, 2020[lower-alpha 1] | 5th |
| 5 | Brittney Miller | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2016 | 4th |
| 6 | Shondra Summers-Armstrong | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 7 | Cameron Miller | Democratic | North Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 8 | Duy Nguyen | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 9 | Steve Yeager | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2016 | 4th |
| 10 | Vacant[4] | Democratic | |||
| 11 | Bea Duran | Democratic | North Las Vegas | 2018† | 3rd |
| 12 | Max Carter | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 13 | Brian Hibbetts | Republican | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 14 | Erica Mosca | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 15 | Howard Watts III | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2018 | 3rd |
| 16 | Cecelia González | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 17 | Clara Thomas | Democratic | North Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 18 | Venicia Considine | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 19 | Toby Yurek | Republican | Henderson | 2022 | 1st |
| 20 | David Orentlicher | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2020 | 2nd |
| 21 | Elaine Marzola | Democratic | Henderson | 2020 | 2nd |
| 22 | Melissa Hardy | Republican | Henderson | 2018 | 3rd |
| 23 | Danielle Gallant | Republican | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 24 | Sarah Peters | Democratic | Reno | 2018 | 3rd |
| 25 | Selena La Rue Hatch | Democratic | Reno | 2022 | 1st |
| 26 | Rich DeLong | Republican | Reno | 2022 | 1st |
| 27 | Angie Taylor | Democratic | Reno | 2022 | 1st |
| 28 | Reuben D'Silva | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2022 | 1st |
| 29 | Lesley Cohen | Democratic | Henderson | 2012†, 2016[lower-alpha 2] | 5th |
| 30 | Natha Anderson | Democratic | Sparks | 2020 | 2nd |
| 31 | Jill Dickman | Republican | Sparks | 2014, 2020[lower-alpha 3] | 3rd |
| 32 | Alexis Hansen | Republican | Sparks | 2018 | 3rd |
| 33 | Bert Gurr | Republican | Elko | 2022 | 1st |
| 34 | Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2016 | 4th |
| 35 | Michelle Gorelow | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2018 | 3rd |
| 36 | Gregory Hafen II | Republican | Pahrump | 2018† | 3rd |
| 37 | Shea Backus | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2018, 2022[lower-alpha 4] | 2nd |
| 38 | Gregory Koenig | Republican | Fallon | 2022 | 1st |
| 39 | Ken Gray | Republican | Dayton | 2022 | 1st |
| 40 | P. K. O'Neill | Republican | Carson City | 2014, 2020[lower-alpha 5] | 3rd |
| 41 | Sandra Jauregui | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2016 | 4th |
| 42 | Tracy Brown-May | Democratic | Las Vegas | 2021† | 2nd |
- † Member was originally appointed.
Past composition of the Assembly
Notes
- McArthur served nonconsecutive terms between 2008-2012 and 2016-2018.
- Cohen served a nonconsecutive term between 2012-2014.
- Dickman served a nonconsecutive term between 2014-2016.
- Backus served a nonconsecutive term between 2018-2020.
- O'Neill served a nonconsecutive term between 2014-2016.
References
- "Nevada State Assembly - 2011 Districts : Population Report" (PDF). Leg.state.nv.us. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- Republican Paul Anderson (District 13) resigned to take another job.
- Democrat Tyrone Thompson (District 17) died.
- Sabra Newby resigned on September 6, 2023 after being appointed as a deputy city manager of Las Vegas.