Nevada Assembly

Nevada Assembly
Nevada Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	6 terms (12 years)
History
New session started	February 2, 2015
Leadership
Speaker of the Nevada Assembly	John Hambrick (R) since February 2, 2015
Majority Leader	Paul Anderson (R) since February 2, 2015
Minority Leader	TBA (D) since TBA
Structure
Seats	42
Political groups	Majority   Republican (24) Minority   Democratic (16)   Libertarian (1)   Vacant (1)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article 4, Nevada Constitution
Salary	$146.90/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014 (42 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2016 (42 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
Assembly Chamber Nevada State Capitol Carson City, Nevada
Website
Nevada Legislature

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. 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
	Template:American politics/party colors/Democratic|	Template:American politics/party colors/Republican|	Template:American politics/party colors/Libertarian|
	Democratic	Republican	Libertarian		Vacant
Begin 77th Legislative Session (2012-2014)	27	15	0	42	0
End	25	14		39	3
78th Legislative Session (2014-2016)	17	25	0	42	0
January 8, 2016	16	24	1	41	1
January 12, 2016	16	23	1	40	2
Latest voting share	40%	57.5%	2.5%

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.

Position	Name	Party	District
Speaker	John Hambrick	Republican	2
Speaker pro tempore	John Ellison	Republican	33
Majority Leader	Paul Anderson	Republican	13
Assistant Majority Floor Leader	Ira Hansen	Republican	32
Majority Whip	Jim Wheeler	Republican	39
Assistant Majority Whip	Jill Dickman	Republican	31
Assistant Majority Whip	Victoria Seaman	Republican	34
Minority Leader	TBA	Democratic	1
Co-Assistant Minority Leader	Teresa Benitez-Thompson	Democratic	27
Co-Assistant Minority Leader	Maggie Carlton	Democratic	14

District	Name	Party	Residence	First elected	Term
1	Vacant	-	-	-	-
2	John Hambrick	Republican	Las Vegas	2008	4th
3	Nelson Arujo	Democratic	Las Vegas	2014	1st
4	Michele Fiore	Republican	Las Vegas	2012	2nd
5	Erven T. Nelson	Republicanic	Las Vegas	2014	1st
6	Harvey Munford	Democratic	Las Vegas	2004	6th
7	Dina Neal	Democratic	North Las Vegas	2010	3rd
8	John Moore	Libertarian	Las Vegas	2014	1st
9	David M. Gardner	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
10	Shelly M. Shelton	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
11	Olivia Diaz	Democratic	North Las Vegas	2010	3rd
12	James Ohrenschall	Democratic	Las Vegas	2006	5th
13	Paul Anderson	Republican	Las Vegas	2012	2nd
14	Maggie Carlton	Democratic	Las Vegas	2010	3rd
15	Elliot Anderson	Democratic	Las Vegas	2010	3rd
16	Heidi Swank	Democratic	Las Vegas	2012	2nd
17	Tyrone Thompson	Democratic	North Las Vegas	2013	2nd
18	Richard Carrillo	Democratic	Las Vegas	2010	3rd
19	Chris Edwards	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
20	Ellen Spiegel	Democratic	Henderson	2008	3rd
21	Derek Armstrong	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
22	Lynn D. Stewart	Republican	Henderson	2006	5th
23	Melissa Woodbury	Republican	Henderson	2008	4th
24	Amber Joiner	Democratic	Reno	2014	1st
25	Vacant	-	-	-	-
26	Randy Kirner	Republican	Reno	2010	3rd
27	Teresa Benitez-Thompson	Democratic	Reno	2010	3rd
28	Edgar Flores	Democratic	Las Vegas	2014	1st
29	Stephen Silberkraus	Republican	Henderson	2014	1st
30	Michael Sprinkle	Democratic	Sparks	2012	2nd
31	Jill Dickman	Republican	Sparks	2014	1st
32	Ira Hansen	Republican	Sparks	2010	3rd
33	John Ellison	Republican	Elko	2010	3rd
34	Victoria Seaman	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
35	Brent A. Jones	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
36	James Oscarson	Republican	Pahrump	2012	2nd
37	Glenn E. Trowbridge	Republican	Las Vegas	2014	1st
38	Robin L. Titus	Republican	Wellington	2014	1st
39	Jim Wheeler	Republican	Minden	2012	2nd
40	Philip "P.K." O'Neill	Republican	Carson City	2014	1st
41	Victoria Dooling	Republican	Henderson	2014	1st
42	Irene Bustamante Adams	Democratic	Las Vegas	2010	3rd

See also

• Nevada State Capitol
• Nevada Legislature
• Nevada Senate

External links

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