Nevada Senate Revenue Committee adopts rules, reviews 2025 revenue reference manual and committee brief

Chair Neal called the Senate Committee on Revenue and Economic Development to order and the panel unanimously adopted the committee rules before receiving staff presentations on the committee brief and the Revenue Reference Manual.

The committee adopted a motion "to adopt the Committee rules as given," moved by Senator Cruz Crawford and seconded by Senator Donate; members voiced "aye" and the chair recorded the rules as adopted unanimously. No roll-call tally was taken. This formal action closed the rules portion of the meeting and cleared the agenda for staff briefings.

The nut graf: The committee’s staff — principally Christian Tower and Michael Nakamoto of the Legislative Counsel Bureau Fiscal Analysis Division — walked members through two core reference documents they will use during the 2025 session: a 35‑page policy/committee brief and the Revenue Reference Manual, a multi‑hundred‑page reference on Nevada tax sources, distributions and recent statutory changes. Staff emphasized where members can find summaries of 2023 enactments, jurisdictional references, and itemized revenue tables and charts.

Christian Tower, deputy fiscal analyst, told the committee that "the committee brief is 35 pages long" and described its structure: a summary of measures referred to the committee in 2023, sections on tax changes enacted in 2023 (including a subsection on economic incentive programs), a table of committee jurisdiction keyed to the Nevada Revised Statutes, and lists of deadlines and bill draft requests (BDRs) that staff believe may be relevant to the committee. Tower noted that the brief also lists the number of measures the committee handled in 2023: "a total of 38 bills and resolutions were referred to the committee," of which 32 were reported out and 18 were reported to the governor; 17 bills were signed into law and one (Senate Bill 429) was vetoed but its provisions were later included in Senate Bill 1 of the 30th special session.

Tower described the Revenue Reference Manual as a detailed, legislator‑oriented reference published biennially by the fiscal analysis division and intended "for legislators, to provide a reference" on specific tax and revenue sources. He summarized contents members can use quickly in committee work: high‑level charts of unrestricted general fund revenues (showing sales tax accounted for 30.5% of unrestricted general fund revenue in FY 2024, the gaming percentage fee 15.9%, modified business taxes 14.1%, and insurance premium taxes 11.6%), a comprehensive table of unrestricted general fund revenue sources and historical collections, and dedicated sections drilling down by tax type (sales and use, gaming, property, excises, fuel and motor vehicle taxes, and other taxes and fees).

Michael Nakamoto, chief principal deputy fiscal analyst, added context about the BDR list included in the brief and asked members to treat it as staff tracking of potentially relevant topics (for example, cannabis and gaming measures that might create revenue effects tracked by fiscal staff even when those bills are heard in other committees). He also noted the fiscal analysis division’s intent to modernize and streamline the Revenue Reference Manual and invited members to suggest improvements.

Members asked procedural and substantive questions. Senator Neal asked staff about the commerce tax and the scope of the health‑care‑related deductions (subsection 9), noting curiosity about which payments are excluded; Nakamoto explained that some exclusions (for example, insurance‑related receipts) stem from a decision to avoid double taxation because those receipts are already subject to the insurance premium tax and said the Department of Taxation is the administering agency for enforcement and could provide more detailed administration answers when they appear before the committee. Senator Donate asked whether the Department of Taxation’s biennial tax‑expenditure report quantifies exemptions and abatements; Nakamoto confirmed the department has a statutory obligation to publish a tax expenditure report and that staff can distribute the most recent report to members.

Staff called attention to several reference items members flagged for later follow up: the manual’s summary of the Marcus Job Act program (as two separate entries reflecting enactments in 2019 and 2023), new material on unredeemed wagering vouchers, county‑level sales tax rate breakdown tables (a new addition replacing a single statewide combined‑rate map), and tables showing current and historical fuel tax indexing and county special‑fuel rates. Tower and Nakamoto also pointed members to the revenue forecast used in the manual (approved by the Economic Forum on 2024‑12‑02) as the basis for the executive budget, pursuant to NRS chapter 353.

Votes at a glance: The committee adopted its internal committee rules on a motion by Senator Cruz Crawford with a second from Senator Donate; the chair stated the rules were adopted unanimously by voice vote and recorded no opposition.

The meeting concluded with the chair opening public comment; no callers or in‑room public commenters spoke and the committee adjourned to its next scheduled meeting on Thursday.

Ending: Staff committed to provide members with the Department of Taxation’s tax‑expenditure report and to coordinate future briefings with the Department of Taxation and other agencies (Department of Business and Industry, Office of Economic Development, Office of Workforce Innovation) as items arise during the session.