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Bill would codify key federal student protections into state law; sponsors say it’s a backstop against shifting federal policy
Summary
AB494 would enshrine several federal education and civil-rights protections in Nevada law and authorize state agencies to adopt implementing regulations. Sponsor said amendments assign implementing responsibilities across state agencies to eliminate a fiscal note for the Nevada Department of Education.
Assembly Bill 494, presented June 1 to the Senate Finance Committee, would codify several federal education and civil-rights protections into Nevada law so the protections would remain in state statute if federal policy changed.
Assemblymember Selena Torres Fawcett said the bill would enshrine protections from laws and programs including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as they relate to education records and student privacy, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX (education amendments prohibiting sex discrimination), and provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Torres Fawcett described a negotiated amendment that assigns specific implementation and reporting duties to the departments with subject-matter expertise (for example, assigning some HIPAA-related duties to the Department of Health and Human Services and other statutory duties to the Department of Human Resource Management or the Nevada Department of Education). She said those amendments removed a fiscal note for the Nevada Department of Education.
Tom Clark, representing the Nevada Association of School Boards, Brad Keating for the Clark County School District and Mary Pruzinski of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents testified in support. Steven Cohen also called in to support the bill, noting federal uncertainty made state-level protections important.
No public opposition was recorded in the hearing. The committee closed the hearing on AB494 after proponents spoke and staff confirmed the amendment addressed the fiscal concern for NDE.
The bill’s text and the reprint allocate authority for regulation and reporting to specified state agencies; proponents emphasized that assignment as the feature that allowed removal of a department fiscal note.
