Nevada lawmakers may allow North Las Vegas council to grow

North Las Vegas Town Hall (Las Vegas Review-Journal)Nevada Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas (Las Vegas Review-Journal).
CARSON CITY - - The Nevada state Senate on Monday passed a bill that would expand the North Las Vegas City Council, although the city and its brand-new mayor oppose the step.

Senate Bill 184 was approved on a vote of 13-8, with all Senate Republicans ballot versus advancing the bill to the Assembly.

The expense would add two new seats to North Las Vegas' City Council, require the city supervisor to become a citizen of the city, and would bar the city attorney from offering legal recommendations to council members on any concerns not directly associated to official service.

The expense's main sponsor - - Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, who ran unsuccessfully for North Las Vegas mayor herself in 2015 - - stated expanding the city board is "a civil rights problem" and not about whether she plans on running for any of the positions on the council.

" Senate Bill 184 is not about any person in the North Las Vegas government. It has to do with individuals who are requesting for sufficient representation," Spearman said. "Why would not anyone want the majority minority city in the state to have equal representation?".

But Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka spoke in opposition to the expense.

" But to overlook the reality that this is a charter city with a charter committee and then bring it to this body to restructure what that city board appears like I feel is wrong," Goicoechea said.

Senators also voted to approve Senate Bill 302, which would restrict a licensing board from disqualifying or disciplining somebody for supplying gender-affirming care and would disallow the governor from providing a warrantfor an individual criminally charged for providing gender affirming care in a state where its unlawful to do so.

" Senate Bill 302 will resolve the increasingly grave environment presented by state federal governments across the country who seek to remove access to gender-affirming care," Sen. James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, said. "I believe Nevada has the possibility to really take a stand for what is right.".

The procedure was authorized on a party line vote, with all Republicans voting against the bill.

Legislators in the Senate voted unanimously to authorize Senate Bill 362, which needs a peace officer to make certain medical help is rendered to a person in their custody who states they can't breathe. The costs would likewise require the Department of Motor Vehicles to develop a program that would permit people with medical conditions to have a sign on their drivers licenses to alert very first responders to that fact.

In the Assembly, lawmakers voted unanimously to authorize Assembly Bill 73, legislation that would give students the right to wear tribal regalia of cultural or religious significance at graduation ceremonies. Some school guidelines forbade non-academic symbols on graduation clothes.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.