39°09′42″N 119°45′58″W / 39.161643°N 119.766139°W / 39.161643; -119.766139 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
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
6 terms (12 years)
History
Preceded by81st Nevada Legislature
New session started
February 6, 2023
Leadership
Steve Yeager (D)
since February 6, 2023
Speaker pro tempore
Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D)
since February 6, 2023
Majority Leader
Sandra Jauregui (D)
since February 6, 2023
Minority Leader
P. K. O'Neill (R)
since February 6, 2023
Structure
Seats42
Political groups
Majority
  •   Democratic (28)

Minority

Length of term
2 years
AuthorityArticle 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)
RedistrictingLegislative 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

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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

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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

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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

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28 14
Democratic Republican
Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Democratic Libertarian 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

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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 Vacant Democratic
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

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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[a] 5th
5 Brittney Miller Democratic Las Vegas 2016 4th
6 Shondra Summers-Armstrong Democratic Las Vegas 2020 2nd
7 Vacant[4]
8 Duy Nguyen Democratic Las Vegas 2022 1st
9 Steve Yeager Democratic Las Vegas 2016 4th
10 Vacant[5]
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[b] 5th
30 Natha Anderson Democratic Sparks 2020 2nd
31 Jill Dickman Republican Sparks 2014, 2020[c] 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[d] 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[e] 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

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ McArthur served nonconsecutive terms between 2008-2012 and 2016-2018.
  2. ^ Cohen served a nonconsecutive term between 2012-2014.
  3. ^ Dickman served a nonconsecutive term between 2014-2016.
  4. ^ Backus served a nonconsecutive term between 2018-2020.
  5. ^ O'Neill served a nonconsecutive term between 2014-2016.

References

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  1. ^ "Nevada State Assembly - 2011 Districts : Population Report" (PDF). Leg.state.nv.us. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  2. ^ Republican Paul Anderson (District 13) resigned to take another job. [1]
  3. ^ Democrat Tyrone Thompson (District 17) died. [2]
  4. ^ Cameron Miller resigned on October 30, 2023 to run for a seat on the Las Vegas City Council. [3]
  5. ^ Sabra Newby resigned on September 6, 2023 after being appointed as a deputy city manager of Las Vegas. [4]
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