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Anti-discrimination bills among 49 signed into law by Sandoval
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REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- Transgender people in Nevada now have a trifecta of laws to protect them from discrimination.
Gov. Brian Sandoval late Wednesday signed two more bills to prohibit discrimination against transgender men and women. He approved Senate Bill 331, which outlaws discrimination against transgender people in public accommodations, such as restaurants, hotels and stores. He also signed SB368, which prohibits discrimination against them in the rental and sale of housing and property.
The approval of the bills follows Sandoval's decision May 14 to sign AB211, which prohibits job discrimination against transgender people. The new laws go into effect Oct. 1.
The transgender bills were among the 49 bills Sandoval signed on Wednesday night, after the completion of budget negotiations with legislative leaders, and again on Thursday.
Transgender people are those whose expression and personal identity is opposite to the sex they had at birth. There are an estimated 25,000 transgender people in Nevada. Some have undergone sex change operations, and many receive hormone replacement treatment. The Department of Motor Vehicles allows transgender people who have written authorization from their doctors to change their gender designation on their drivers' licenses.
Sandoval signed the anti-discrimination transgender bills although only three of the 26 Republicans in the Legislature -- Assembly members Kelly Kite of Minden, Richard McArthur of Las Vegas and Ed Goedhart of Amargosa Valley -- voted for the public accommodations bill. All 37 Democrats backed that bill.
The housing discrimination bill received support of every Democrat, along with Assembly Republicans Kite, McArthur and Goedhart and Senate Republicans Mike McGinness of Fallon and Ben Kieckhefer of Reno.
The bills were sponsored by Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas; Sheila Leslie, D-Reno; and Assemblyman Paul Aizley, D-Las Vegas.
Other bills signed by Sandoval included the following:
■ Assembly Bill 98, sponsored by Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, which allows the Division of Emergency Management to establish a system to allow doctors and veterinarians from other states to provide volunteer help in Nevada during emergencies.
■ AB500, sponsored by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, which cuts in half state appropriations from slot machine fees to programs that deal with problem gambling. The new law cuts to $1 per machine the money going to these programs, while the other $1 will go to the state general fund. On July 1, 2013, the funds collected will all go to problem gambling.
■ AB132, sponsored by the Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, which would allow Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas city councils to decide whether to have municipal elections on even-numbered year like state legislative and other elections.
■ AB393, sponsored by Assemblywoman Marilyn Dondero Loop, D-Las Vegas, which requires licensed school district employees to report whether they have been arrested for any crime. Upon renewal of their licenses, teachers also must undergo a background investigation and provide their fingerprints for inspection by the state criminal history repository. A teacher with a bachelor's degree is licensed for five years. A renewal costs $80, plus a $51 cost for the fingerprint and background check.
■ SB157, sponsored by Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, which allows politicians to donate unpaid campaign contributions to state or local government programs. They can specify the funds go to the programs of their choice, such as the Millennium Scholarship program.
■ SB96, sponsored by Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, which encourages but does not require recipients of the Millennium Scholarship to volunteer to do at least 20 hours of community service per year.
■ SB441, sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee, which would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to enter into contracts to allow private companies to place computer terminals or kiosks in public places. Citizens could complete their business with the DMV on the terminals, but they would pay an additional fee to the private company.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.
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I second the notion that the lawmakers have competently wasted their time on these bills. Instead of focusing on important issues that need to be addressed it appears that the senate and governor are just doing busy work.
Do ANY of these new nonsense laws create new private sector jobs?
There was one other Transgender "expression" bill, AB 211 that has nothing to do with discrimination.
So if Paul is hired to be a police officer and two months later he becomes 'Paula' to 'express herself' then he/she should be not be looking for other work?
This has nothing to do with sexual preference. It is a very bad law, based on an extreme left agenda. What next transgender sex education for K-12?
One Senator could have stopped this AB 211 and the Governor could have vetoed it, but that would have shown 'no diversity'.
Employers of Nevada - it just got harder and more expense to create jobs.
Parents of Nevada look out it may get harder to teach traditional sex education in CCSD schools as well.
Next, they'll mandate a third rest room in every public establishment - male, female & it - I suppose. Plus golf & tennis can now add a third category - male, female & transgender. That would be far more honest than today's matches between competitors many of whom are simply guys dressed in female outfits.
25,000 transgenders...did Nevada do a "head" count? When is the grand opening of "I'M CONFUSED CLOTHING"?
How about a bill protecting taxpayers from out of control government?
Not a single issue that anyone cares about... morons! Every single one of them should be voted out and get a legislature that has a clue as to what is important to the people of NV. Only a tiny % care about the transgenders...why waste time and money on that? Deal with real issues and you may earn some respect...right now...you have none.
LESS GOVERNMENT. CUT SPENDING. DEPORT ILLEGALS. CLOSE THE BORDER. STOP WASTING MONEY ON WELFARE TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER WORKED. STOP FOOD STAMPS AND REPLACE THEM WITH SOUP KITCHENS. STOP PRETENDING THAT THE MORON IN THE WHITE HOUSE CAN OR WANTS TO DO ANYTHING BUT DESTROY AMERICA AND OUR WAY OF LIFE. HE IS A MUSLIM WHO WANTS TO GIVE IT ALL TO HIS BROTHERS...SENDING US BACK TO THE THIRD CENTURY!
"Transgender people are those whose expression and personal identity is opposite to the sex they were given at birth." Just another example of how messed up people's thinking is. "Given at birth?!" Is Vogel serious? Let's stop the mutiliation! (No pun intended.) I wasn't given anything. The doctor said, "Well, since he has a penis, it's a boy." The equipment is correct; it's the thoughts and feelings of the transgendered person that are the source of their confusion.
Sandavol is fiddling while Nevada is burning...
Less government. Lower taxes. More want, more ignorance.