Nevada Assembly

Nevada Assembly
Nevada Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	6 terms (12 years)
History
New session started	February 6, 2017
Leadership
Speaker of the Nevada Assembly	Jason Frierson (D) Since February 6, 2017
Majority Floor Leader	Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D) Since November 9, 2016
Minority Leader	Paul Anderson (R) Since November 9, 2016
Structure
Seats	42
Political groups	Majority      Democratic (27) Minority      Republican (15)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article 4, Nevada Constitution
Salary	$146.90/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2016 (42 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2018 (42 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
Assembly Chamber Nevada State Capitol Carson City, Nevada
Website
Nevada Legislature

Coordinates: 39°09′42″N 119°45′58″W / 39.161643°N 119.766139°W The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Nevada. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member districts. Each Assembly district contained approximately 64,299 people as of the 2010 census.^[1] Term limits, limiting assembly members to six 2-year terms (12 years), took effect in 2010. Twelve members of the Assembly were termed out with the 2010 election serving their last legislative session in 2011.

The 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 Legislature. The lower house of the Legislature is referred to as an "Assembly" rather than the more common "House of Representatives."

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

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
Democratic	Republican	Lib	Vacant
Begin 77th Legislative Session 2012	27	15	0	42	0
End	25	14		39	3
Begin 78th Legislative Session 2014	17	25	0	42	0
August 19, 2015[2]	16			41	1
January 8, 2016[3]		24	1
January 12, 2016[4]		23		40	2
February 10, 2016[5]		22		39	3
September 27-30, 2016[6]	17	24		42	0
November 9, 2016[7]	27	15	0	42	0
Latest voting share	64.3%	35.7%

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.

Members

District	Name	Party	Residence	First elected	Term
1	Daniele Monroe-Moreno	Dem		2016	1st
2	John Hambrick	Rep	Las Vegas	2008	5th
3	Nelson Araujo	Dem	Las Vegas	2014	2nd
4	Richard McArthur	Rep		2016	1st
5	Brittney Miller	Dem		2016	1st
6	William McCurdy	Dem		2016	1st
7	Dina Neal	Dem	North Las Vegas	2010	4th
8	Jason Frierson	Dem		2016	1st
9	Steve Yeager	Dem		2016	1st
10	Chris Brooks	Dem		2016	1st
11	Olivia Diaz	Dem	North Las Vegas	2010	4th
12	James Ohrenschall	Dem	Sunrise Manor	2006	6th
13	Paul Anderson	Rep	Las Vegas	2012	3rd
14	Maggie Carlton	Dem	Sunrise Manor	2010	4th
15	Elliot Anderson	Dem	Winchester	2010	4th
16	Heidi Swank	Dem	Las Vegas	2012	3rd
17	Tyrone Thompson	Dem	North Las Vegas	2013	3rd
18	Richard Carrillo	Dem	Whitney	2010	4th
19	Chris Edwards	Rep	Sunrise Manor	2014	2nd
20	Ellen Spiegel	Dem	Henderson	2008	4th
21	Ozzie Fumo	Dem		2016	1st
22	Keith Pickard	Rep		2016	1st
23	Melissa Woodbury	Rep	Henderson	2008	5th
24	Amber Joiner	Dem	Reno	2014	2nd
25	Jill Tolles	Rep		2016	1st
26	Lisa Krasner	Rep		2016	1st
27	Teresa Benitez-Thompson	Dem	Reno	2010	4th
28	Edgar Flores	Dem	Las Vegas	2014	2nd
29	Lesley Cohen	Dem		2016	1st
30	Michael Sprinkle	Dem	Sparks	2012	3rd
31	Skip Daly	Dem		2016	1st
32	Ira Hansen	Rep	Sparks	2010	4th
33	John Ellison	Rep	Elko	2010	4th
34	Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod	Dem		2016	1st
35	Justin Watkins	Dem		2016	1st
36	James Oscarson	Rep	Pahrump	2012	3rd
37	Jim Marchant	Rep		2016	1st
38	Robin L. Titus	Rep	Wellington	2014	2nd
39	Jim Wheeler	Rep	Minden	2012	3rd
40	Al Kramer	Rep		2016	1st
41	Sandra Jauregui	Dem		2016	1st
42	Irene Bustamante Adams	Dem	Spring Valley	2010	4th

See also

• Nevada State Capitol
• Nevada Legislature
• Nevada Senate

References

1. "Nevada State Assembly - 2011 Districts : Population Report" (PDF). Leg.state.nv.us. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
2. Democrat Marilyn Kirkpatrick (District 1) resigned upon being appointed to the Clark County Commission.
3. John Moore (District 8) switched parties from Republican to Libertarian.
4. Republican Pat Hickey (District 25) resigned to be appointed to the State Board of Education.
5. Republican Erven T. Nelson (District 5) resigned after moving outside his legislative district.
6. Appointments to fill Hickey, Kirkpatrick and Nelson's seats in advance of a special session.
7. Election results. Nevada legislators assume office the day after the election.

External links

• Nevada Assembly
• Members of the Nevada Assembly
• Speakers of the Nevada Assembly (1864–2007)