Nevada Restaurants

Governing the Possession of Weapons

On April 12, the Assembly Judiciary Committee held a work session on AB107 , which revises the provisions governing the possession of weapons at certain locations.  Existing law already prohibits the possession of certain weapons on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education or a private or public school, and this bill adds a dangerous knife to the list of prohibited weapons.  The bill was amended to make an exception allowing students or staff members on school campuses to possess a knife for legitimate learning or educational purposes, and was do passed as amended out of the committee.  The bill will no go to the Assembly Floor for a vote by the full Assembly. 

Upcoming Hearings and Issues

Upcoming Hearings and Issues

The Association’s lobbyists will continue to carefully monitor all issues affecting the Association, as well as the following upcoming hearings on bills of interest for the Nevada Restaurant Association. 
• AB347—3/23 at 8:00 am in Assembly Judiciary—Makes various changes concerning tort actions.
• AJR3—3/23 at 8:00 am in Assembly Judiciary—Proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to revise provisions relating to the taking of private property by eminent domain.
• AB357—3/27 at 7:30 am in Assembly Judiciary—Revises provisions governing tips and gratuities received by employees.
• SB308—3/27 at 1:30 pm in Senate Taxation—Proposes to authorize the Legislature to prescribe temporary exemptions from sales and use taxes.
• AB279—3/28 at 1:00 pm in Assembly Taxation—Requires the unused value of certain gift certificates to escheat to the State.

Meetings with Legislators

Meetings with Legislators

Our member association dinners with legislators continue to be very positive and effective in creating relationships and providing a greater understanding of the nuances of our industry.  We want to encourage all of you to attend any of these dinners as you can.  The legislators love hearing directly from the ground owners, operators, and managers of restaurants.  Our next dinner will be held in Carson City next week on Wednesday, March 28th with Senator Mike Schneider who represents Clark County. 

Vocational and Technical Education

Vocational and Technical Education

Assembly bills AB131 and AB151, both which revise provisions relating to career and technical education, have been “do passed” out of the Assembly Education Committee.  On Monday, March 19, both bills were heard in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, but no action was taken on either of the bills.  We will continue to monitor these bills to ensure that funding for the high school Culinary Arts program remains strong. 

Tip Pooling

Tip Pooling

AB357, which revises provisions governing tips and gratuities received by employees, has been introduced by new Assemblyman Robert Beers in response to the Wynn Resort effort to share dealer tips with management.  If processed, which is questionable at this point, it would continue the allowance for tip pooling but prohibit an employer from setting conditions or content of the agreement, determine eligibility of which employees are included, or require an employee to share in the tips.  There is clearly not unanimity in the gaming community and is unclear about how many gaming companies actually support this bill.  We have looked at this bill as an opportunity to raise the tip credit or tip collection issues this session and continue to do so to see if we can find a worthwhile and successful avenue.

Gift Cards

Gift Cards
AB279 is a bill to add requirements to last session’s capturing the unused value of certain gift certificates and have them escheat (be paid over to the State as unclaimed property).  A democratic caucus bill with Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen as the sponsor would require these funds to be spent on education (presumably as additions to the Millennium Scholarship funds) and would have required a 91-word statement displayed on the card that the card lasts no longer than three years after its issue or last use, a requirement we have already removed.  We continue to argue for the following points—no expiration for restaurant gift cards, and no escheatment for such card—but are not finding support for these propositions because they want to treat all cards the same, and pits consumers rights against business profits in the legislators’ eyes.

2007 Nevada Legislative Session

Culinary Arts Program

The Culinary Arts high school program continues to get high remarks in the legislature.  Wednesday night in testimony concerning high school reform, it was used as a shining example of the kinds of additional programs that need to be given more support in Nevada high schools. Our programs were specifically mentioned as exemplary.

More Legislation to Come

Even though the pace of the session and the bills that we are working on relating to general business is heavy, we continue to hear that approximately three-quarters of the bill draft requests have not yet been drafted or introduced.  We are finding that there are a lot of issues affecting general business and the costs of operation, and it concerns us that there may be even more coming.

Workers’ Comp Costs and Benefits

This is one area which is undergoing a lot of pressure this year in bill draft requests which want to include stress as a compensable item, as well as other subjective features such as: changing lump sum payments and permanent partial disability (PPD)/permanent total disability (PTD) for the worse and increasing fines and other operating costs. We are working in a consortium to defeat or neutralize as many of these as possible. 

Budget and Spending

The latest estimate is that proposals accumulating to an addition $700 million over and above the Governor’s proposed budget are in play, with little to accompany them about what might be traded (or raised?) to fund them.  We continue to argue for spending control and staying within our means.  Conversations with the 63 legislators routinely confirm that none are thinking of additional taxes or fees, and that continues to be good news.  All of this is terrifically complicated by politics, partisanship and many machinations before they distill to the final issues to be resolved at the end of the session.  The primary areas of funding issues revolve around transportation, education, health care, and the costs of our prisons and corrections centers. 

Meetings with Legislators

Our member association dinners with legislators continue to be very positive and effective in creating relationships and providing a greater understanding of the nuances of our industry.  We want to encourage all of you to attend any of these dinners as you can.  The legislators love hearing directly from the ground owners, operators, and managers of restaurants.  Our next dinner will be held in Carson City on Wednesday, March 28^th with Senator Mike Schneider, who represents Clark County.

Upcoming Hearings and Issues

The Association’s lobbyists will continue to carefully monitor vocational education bills and funding issues during the upcoming weeks of the session, as well as the following upcoming hearings on bills of interest for the Nevada Restaurant Association. 

• AB131—3/19 at 8:00 am in Assembly Ways and Means—Revises provisions governing career and technical education. (BDR 34-439)
• AB151—3/19 at 8:00 am in Assembly Ways and Means—Revises provisions relating to career and technical education. (BDR 34-441)
• AB252—3/20 at 1:30 pm in Assembly Taxation—Authorizes deductions from the state taxes on financial institutions and other businesses for payments on behalf of employees to certain pension plans and apprenticeship programs. (BDR 32-883)

Minimum Wage Hearing Update

On Monday, March 5th, Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek held a public hearing in the Legislative building regarding the adoption of the new minimum wage Temporary Regulations, which will take effect on April 11, 2007, when the Emergency Regulations expire.  Below is a summary of some of the clarifications and provisions the Association worked to include in the newly-adopted regulations out of the Labor Commissioner’s office.  These changes will provide relief to restaurant owners from what may have been costly and burdensome provisions in implementing the recently passed constitutional amendment. 

• Section 5 provides for no mandatory requirement to run a 10% health care premium test on every employee.  This allows employers to control expenses and operating burdens by letting the employer choose to pay the maximum rate or run a calculation test to determine employees’ qualification for the lower minimum wage rate based on health care premium percentage. 
• Section 8 eliminates the "up-and-down" effect for new hires based on a waiting period for health insurance coverage.  This provision allows the employer to pay the lower minimum wage which the employee qualifies for based on the health premium test from the first day of employment. 
• Section 6 clarifies that an employer only has to “offer” health insurance to the employee for the test to apply.  As long as the premium test is met, the employee does not have to accept the insurance offered or be covered for the employer to be able to pay the reduced minimum wage. 
• Section 3(2)(c) states that the training wage requirements are those of the Fair Labor Standards Training Act, which clarifies that a Nevada employer does not have to meet two standards in order to apply a training wage for the first 90 days.
• Section 4(2)(b) (I-IV) relieves an employer from having to guess at how to handle the calculation of premium on an employee-by-employee basis by providing clear standards for applying the premium test. 

This section also establishes guidance for the following tests: 
o Annual with W-2,
o Annual without prior W-2,
o Partial year,
o New hire,
o Promoted employee, and
o Change to 18 while employed
• Section 7 provides for more stability by allowing the determination of proper minimum wage rate to extend through a calendar year.  This provision provides flexibility for the employer by clarifying that tests do not have to be done each pay period, but rather when the employer chooses. 
• Section 4(2)(a) finally clarifies that "gross taxable income" is the amount an employer will specify on a W-2. 

Upcoming Hearings and Issues
The Association’s lobbyists will continue to carefully monitor vocational education bills and funding issues during the upcoming weeks of the session, as well as the following upcoming hearings on bills of interest for the Nevada Restaurant Association. 

• SB102—3/20 at 1:30 pm in Senate Committee on Taxation—Makes various changes regarding state business licenses. (BDR 32-238)
• SB211—3/20 at 1:30 pm in Senate Committee on Taxation—Authorizes deductions from the state taxes on financial institutions and other businesses for certain expenditures by employers for the provision of day care to the children of their employees. (BDR 32-676)

Dinner with Senator McGinness

On February 28, Association members Paymon Raouf, Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe & Hookah Lounge, Andre Rochat, Gastronomy Management Group, John Kukulica, Sands Regency Hotel,  met and had dinner with Senator Mike McGinness at Adele's Restaurant & Lounge in Carson City.  Senator McGinness is the Chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee and represent various parts of rural Nevada.  The group was able to discuss with the Senator various issues affecting restaurants throughout the state including the tip credit, the impacts of the implementation of the new minimum wage laws on restaurant owners, and what we can do in the future to help restaurant owners in Nevada.  Special thanks to Charlie Abowd for hosting the dinner.  The next dinner is scheduled for March 21st with Senator Schneider in Carson City.  Contact NvRA to get on the invite list.

AB 107 - Knives in High Schools

On, February 28, the Assembly Judiciary Committee heard AB107, which revises the provisions governing the possession of weapons at certain locations.  Existing law already prohibits the possession of certain weapons on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education or a private or public school, and this bill adds a dangerous knife to the list of prohibited weapons.  However, as originally drafted, the bill does not make any exception for students or staff members on school campuses to possess a knife for legitimate learning or professional reason, which would greatly negatively impact the over 500 students in the association's ProStart® Program.  As a result, Association lobbyist George Ross worked with the Clark County School District to support an amendment which would make an exception to this law for educational and professional purposes.  No action was taken on the bill, but we will continue to monitor AB 107 in the future to ensure that culinary arts students are protected.