2020 Nevada legislative session

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Some states made changes to 2020 state legislative sessions and legislative activity in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
For a full list of changes, visit: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020.
Nevada: The Nevada State Legislature convened a special session on July 8, 2020. The special session adjourned on July 19, 2020. The legislature convened another special session on July 31, 2020. That session adjourned on August 5, 2020.
Nevada State Legislature

Seal of Nevada.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   3 terms (12 years)
Session start:   No regular legislative session
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:  
Kate Marshall (D)
House Speaker:  Jason Frierson (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Nicole Cannizzaro (D)
House: Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: James Settelmeyer (R)
House: Jim Wheeler (R)
Structure
Members:  21 (Senate), 42 (Assembly)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (Assembly)
Authority:   Art 4, Nevada Constitution
Salary:   $146.29/day + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Redistricting:  Nevada Legislature has control

Nevada held no regular legislative session in 2020.

Partisan control in 2020

See also: State government trifectas

Nevada was one of 15 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2020 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state Assembly. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

At the start of 2020, Nevada was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

Leadership in 2020

Nevada State Senate

Nevada Assembly

Standing legislative committees

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Nevada state government


A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, there were 21 standing committees in Nevada's state government, including no joint legislative committees, 11 state Senate committees, and 10 state Assembly committees.

Senate committees


Assembly committees


Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods by which the Nevada Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article 16 and Article 19 of the Nevada Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Nevada

The Nevada Constitution can be amended via three different paths: a constitutional convention, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment or an initiated constitutional amendment.

Initiative

See also: Initiated constitutional amendment

An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.

In Nevada, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the total number of votes cast in the preceding general election. A simple majority vote in two consecutive elections is required for voter approval.

Legislature

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions for the Nevada State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 22 votes in the Nevada State Assembly and 11 votes in the Nevada State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Convention

See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

According to Section 2 of Article 16 of the Nevada Constitution, a two-thirds vote of the Nevada State Legislature is required to refer a constitutional convention question to the ballot. A simple majority vote of the electorate is required to call a convention.



Historical context: Between 1996 and 2018, the following occurred:

  • Ballots featured 79 ballot measures.
  • An average of seven measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots in Nevada.
  • An average of two citizen-initiated measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots in Nevada.
  • Voters approved 59 percent (47 of 79) and rejected 41 percent (32 of 79) of the ballot measures.
  • Voters approved 72 percent (21 of 29) and rejected 28 percent (8 of 29) of the citizen-initiated measures.
Ballot measures in Nevada, 1996-2018
Type Total number Approved Percent approved Defeated Percent defeated Average Median Minimum Maximum
All measures 79 47 59.5% 32 40.5% 6.6 5.0 1 17
Initiatives 29 21 72.4% 8 27.6% 2.4 2.0 0 6
Legislative amendments 31 15 48.4% 16 51.6% 2.6 2.0 0 7
Legislative statutes 15 8 53.3% 7 46.7% 1.3 1.0 0 5


Historical partisan control

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Nevada.

Nevada Party Control: 1992-2025
Five years of Democratic trifectas  •  Two years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R
Senate D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D
House D D D S S D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R D D D D D D D D D

See also

Elections Nevada State Government State Legislatures State Politics
Ballotpedia Elections Badge-VOTE-no shadow-Square.jpg
Nevada State Flag-Close Up.jpg
State Houses-Tile image.png
State Courts-Tile image.png

External links

Footnotes

v • e
State legislatures
Legislatures
Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S)
SLP badge.png
2025
2024
2023
Historical elections
2022 •  2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000
Features of
state legislatures
State senates
State houses
Leadership positions
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=2020_Nevada_legislative_session&oldid=9947044"