SB 161 Nevada Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Revises provisions relating to local government employees. (BDR 23-34)

SB 161 revises Nevada's collective bargaining rules for school districts and teachers' unions. It creates new timelines for binding arbitration when teacher contract negotiations stall: either 75 days before school starts (if no agreement exists) or after an expired contract. The bill also prohibits school districts from requiring teachers to work more hours than specified in an expired contract. Additionally, it changes strike rules by removing penalties for individual teachers during disputes and excluding teachers from existing requirements like written no-strike pledges. These changes apply specifically to teachers represented by employee organizations in Nevada school districts.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

Senate Passage

May 2025

Assembly Passage

May 2025

Signed into Law

May 2025

Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Signed May 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Reprint 1 → As Enrolled · 6 edits · May 29, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates the procedures for resolving labor disputes between school districts and teachers' unions, allowing for binding arbitration under specific timing conditions. It also removes individual teachers from penalty liability during illegal strikes and excludes local teacher strikes from the state's definition of a strike unless they occur district-wide.

Scope change

The bill narrows the scope of 'strikes' for teachers and removes individual teachers from legal penalties, while expanding arbitration options for teachers' unions under specific expiration timelines.

ENFORCEMENT

Individual teachers are no longer subject to court-imposed penalties or employer disciplinary actions for participating in an illegal strike; penalties now apply only to the union and its officers.

DEFINITION

The legal definition of a 'strike' for teachers is revised to exclude local walkouts, applying only if the concerted action occurs on a district-wide basis.

REQUIREMENT

New binding arbitration procedures are established for teachers' unions when a collective bargaining agreement is scheduled to expire within 75 days of the school year start or has already expired.

The requirement for teacher unions to provide a written pledge not to strike in order to gain recognition is removed.

TIMELINE

Arbitrators must issue final decisions by the first day of the school year if the agreement was nearing expiration, or within 60 days of agreement if the contract has expired.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and organizational changes were made to align the bill's sections with the correct placement in the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Floor votes · Assembly May 23, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 29, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor. Chapter 94.

executive

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Title approved. (Yeas: 33, Nays: 9.) To Senate. In Senate. To enrollment.

upper

May 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. Placed on Second Reading File. Read second time.

upper

May 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Amended. (Amend. No. 611.) Reprinting dispensed with. Read third time. Passed, as amended. Title approved, as amended. (Yeas: 14, Nays: 6, Excused: 1.) To printer.

upper

May 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass.

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Introduced

Prefiled. Referred to Committee on Government Affairs.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors