Sisolak signs wage, sick leave, collective bargaining bills

Wed, Jun 12, 2019 (4:42 p.m.)

Gov. Steve Sisolak signed multiple bills today enacting progressive legislation raising the minimum wage, enacting paid sick leave legislation and extending collective bargaining rights to state employees.

The bills were Democratic priorities for the recently ended legislative session.

In a statement, Assemblyman William McCurdy, D-Las Vegas and the chair of the state Democratic Party, said the bills “will not only boost paychecks but help employers retain talented employees and strengthen our economy, as well.”

Minimum wage moved through the Legislature in two parts.

A bill incrementally increases the minimum wage to $12 for workers not offered health insurance and $11 with health insurance. And a joint resolution started the process of amending the state constitution to set the minimum wage at $12 by 2024.

Sisolak signed the bill today.

The joint resolution must be brought up and approved again in the next legislative session and then passed by voters in a referendum to take effect.

“Keeping working Nevadans stuck in a 10-year-old minimum wage erodes the real value and purchasing power of the wages of hardworking Nevadans,” Sisolak said in a statement.

Giving state workers collective bargaining rights was one of Sisolak’s campaign promises, and the bill enacting the provision was passed near the end of the session, with a caveat that the governor can override the results of a negotiation.

Sisolak said the bill empowers “Nevada’s public service workers — corrections officers, nurses and the people who fix our roads and take care of our veterans — to have a stronger voice for safer, stronger and healthier communities.”

Sisolak said paid sick days “make it so we can get the medical care we need — or provide it to a dependent child or parent — without risking our job or our paycheck, giving us all time to recover and help keep our workers, our families and our communities healthy.”

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