Unemployment system fixes offered

Senate bill aims for faster claims processing

CARSON CITY — Democrats in the Nevada Legislature on Sunday evening unveiled their proposed fix to the help the state’s beleaguered unemployment system.

Senate Bill 3 seeks changes that would make submitting and processing of unemployment claims simpler and faster, expand benefits for some claimants and make it easier for the state to react quickly to policy changes at the federal level and enact policy changes during a state of emergency or after a disaster declaration.

Some of the changes are as basic as allowing documents or communications related to unemployment insurance to be transmitted electronically instead of by mail.

Most significantly, it would make changes that qualify Nevada claimants for an additional seven weeks of benefits beyond the standard 13-week period. It addresses a glitch that potentially prevented people from receiving the extra pandemic-related $600 a week payout if they worked less than full-time but made even slightly more than the weekly benefit they would receive.

That extra payout program expired Friday, but some version of it may be restored in a future federal aid effort.

The bill also relieves employers from having to paying higher unemployment taxes if they were forced furlough or lay off employees because of the pandemic.

Franciscomorales,gov.steve Sisolak’s director of public relations and community affairs, told lawmakers during a hearing on the bill that the changes would “remove some barriers” that have hindered the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s ability to quickly process unemployment claims.

The bill was not released publicly until after the Senate meeting startedjustbefore7p.m.sunday,and some lawmakers noted while asking questions that they had received a copy of the 33-page bill shortly before the meeting started.

Kimberly Gaa, the administrator

of the Nevada Employment Security Division, said that the changes would free up some staff time that could be used to address the backlog of unpaid claims.

Some Republican lawmakers questioned whether the bill does enough to speed up the claim process or address the backlog of unpaid claims.

“I guess I expected something more, something different from the bill,” said Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-eureka. He added that he’s not sure that the expansion of benefits in the bill will solve the major problems plaguing the system.

Lack of staffing, Gaa said, has been one of the biggest challenges in tackling both that backlog and fraudulent claims.

Gaa said that the department has requested additional funds from the governor’s office that would be used to hire more investigators to dig into the fraudulent claims.

Gaa added that “we fully expect to be audited and we fully expect them to find fraudulent payments.” When asked about the number of fraudulent claims, Gaa said that “we don’t know the total number.”

Mining measures approved

The Senate on Sunday approved two more proposals for changing how Nevada taxes its mining industry,

proposals that will now come back to lawmakers for a confirmation vote in the 2021 session.

If approved then, one or more of the measures would go before voters in 2022.

Initial Senate and Assembly proposals, Senate Joint Resolution 1 and Assembly Joint Resolution 1, would remove the constitutionally prescribed 5 percent tax cap on net proceeds of minerals and replace it with a 7.75 percent tax on mining’s gross proceeds. The difference, based on 2019 industry revenues and tax collections, could be an additional $350 million in revenue annually.

A third one introduced Saturday, Assembly Joint Resolution 2, would set the net mining tax at the local

property tax rate, capped at no more 12 percent. All three measures passed the Assembly on Saturday.

The Senate approved SJR 1 on Saturday in a 13-8 party line vote. Its vote on AJR1 Sunday reflected the same partisan split. But AJR2 was approved 14-7, with Sen. Joe Hardy, R-boulder City, opting for it, saying he anticipated more conversation on the proposal in the Legislature next year.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com.

Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter. Contact Capital Bureau Chief

Colton Lochhead at clochhead@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @Coltonlochhead on Twitter.