Carson City — Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and deputy election staff briefed the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on SB74, an elections omnibus bill that standardizes candidate filing fees, creates a filing fee for independent presidential candidates and continues an annual elections training conference for city, county and state election officials.

The secretary stressed SB74’s mix of clarifying and administrative changes. Section 4 standardizes candidate filing fees and section 8.5 permits the office to be reimbursed for costs associated with a required annual training conference for election officials and staff. Mark Velaschin, Deputy Secretary for Elections, said the training was added by the 2023 Legislature and is necessary because of turnover at election offices since 2020; the training’s cost in the previous year was about $160,000, with only $55,000 eligible for reimbursement under existing mechanisms.

Why it matters

Committee members raised concerns about the funding mechanism proposed for the training. Chair and members emphasized that contingency funds are general‑fund dollars and asked why the statutory contingency account (managed by the Board of Examiners) was the route for payment rather than a straight general fund appropriation. Several members suggested a fixed cap or routing the funds through the Interim Finance Committee via a work program to give greater budget oversight.

Fiscal and administrative issues

Velaschin said the reimbursement approach continued the 2023 practice and that the training is a statutory requirement. Anne Kaufman (fiscal staff) clarified the statutory contingency account is managed by the Board of Examiners and that reimbursements would be approved by that body rather than the Interim Finance Committee. Members urged adding a cap — the Secretary of State signaled agreement; the office supported a $200,000 cap and routing through the IFC contingency with a required work program for reimbursement.

Other provisions and testimony

The bill also sets fees for independent presidential candidates to match recent changes for party candidates and allows reimbursement to the office for statewide clerk training. Priscilla Gomez and Kerry Durmick testified in support for voting access groups; no organized opposition testified in committee.

Next steps

Aguilar said his office would work with committee leadership to set a cap and the funding route. With those adjustments, members indicated they were comfortable advancing the bill.