Committee hears AB497 to clarify PAC spending and allow defeated candidates to retain unspent campaign funds for four years

Assembly Bill 497, presented by Speaker Steve Yeager, would revise Nevada’s campaign finance law by (1) enumerating the purposes for which a political action committee may use contributions; (2) excluding nonprofit organizations and corporations from the statutory definition of a committee for political action; and (3) allowing defeated candidates and former public officials to retain unspent campaign contributions for use in a subsequent election if they run within four years.

Speaker Steve Yeager (representing Assembly District 9) said the bill was intended to provide clarity where current law is ambiguous, prevent misuse of PAC funds for personal expenses, and align the law so defeated candidates could reuse funds if they sought office again within a four‑year window. Yeager noted that existing contribution limits (cited in committee) remain unchanged: statutory limits on candidate contributions—$5,000 in a primary and $10,000 in a general election—would continue to apply.

Bradley Schrager, identified as a political law attorney, told the committee that AB497 addresses three areas of longstanding confusion: acceptable PAC expenditures, the definition of a PAC versus nonprofit organizations, and unclear rules on unspent campaign contributions. Schrager said the bill provides a prescriptive list of allowable PAC expenditures and creates a bright‑line rule giving defeated candidates and former officials a four‑year period to retain unspent funds; if they do not file for office or appear on a ballot within that period, they must dispose of unspent funds within 15 days consistent with existing law.

The Secretary of State’s office, represented by Chief Deputy Gabriel De Cara, described the measure as complementary to the office’s own campaign finance proposal and said the changes would further transparency and clarity.

Opponents told the committee they opposed parts of the bill. Joshua Skaggs, legislative affairs director for the Nevada Republican Party, said he would support the unspent funds provision but warned that excluding nonprofits from the PAC definition would expand opportunities for “dark money” by removing disclosure obligations for organizations that engage in political spending. Multiple other witnesses, including Kimberly Fergus and Ellen Gifford, testified in opposition, citing concerns about donor transparency and possible misuse of retained funds.

Committee members asked detailed questions about the nonprofit exclusion and whether nonprofits that engage in political activity should be treated like PACs. Schrager and Speaker Yeager said the bill seeks to separate corporate and nonprofit forms from PACs while still supporting regulation of political activity by those entities; they said entities can and should form PACs to conduct electoral advocacy when appropriate. Senator Daley suggested the committee could work on statutory language to ensure consistent treatment of entities that engage in political expenditures.

Section 4 of the bill, as discussed in committee, would grandfather in persons who held unspent contributions before the bill’s effective date (described in committee as October 1, 2025), giving them four years from the effective date to dispose of unspent contributions. The bill would also keep defeated candidates and former officials subject to continuing campaign finance reporting while they retain unspent funds.

The committee took public testimony for and against the measure and closed the hearing without recording a committee vote. The sponsor indicated willingness to work with opponents and stakeholders on statutory language.