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Committee hears AB 336 to expand veteran preference, eliminate inverse preference in state purchasing
Summary
Assembly Bill 336 would allow Nevada veteran-owned businesses with a service-connected disability to receive a stacked 10% bid preference and would remove the inverse (reciprocal) preference that penalizes out-of-state vendors. The purchasing division presented the proposal and answered committee questions; no final vote was taken.
The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs heard testimony and a staff presentation on Assembly Bill 336, which would change how certain bid preferences are applied in state procurement. The bill would allow a Nevada business owned by a veteran with a service‑connected disability to receive an effective 10 percent preference and would eliminate the statute that imposes an "inverse preference" against vendors from states that provide their own in‑state preferences.
Homa Sayar, general counsel for the Nevada State Purchasing Division, told the committee that the change is intended to restore the intended benefit to disabled‑veteran‑owned Nevada businesses, which under current law have been effectively placed on the same footing as other Nevada businesses. Sayar said the bill would "allow the preference to stack" so that a Nevada veteran‑owned business could receive a 10 percent benefit. Gideon Davis, administrator of the Purchasing Division, framed the division's role in protecting the procurement process and described the electronic procurement site Nevada ePRO, noting that solicitations over $25,000 are posted there and that the division generally runs solicitations over $100,000.
The presenters explained limits on preferences: projects funded wholly or partly with federal funds or run on cooperative contracts often cannot lawfully apply state preferences because of federal rules and interstate commerce considerations. Sayar also described administrative and legal complexity around the inverse preference — a statutory mechanism that adjusts in‑state rankings when another state applies preferences that disadvantage Nevada businesses — and said the division proposed eliminating that provision in part because it can disadvantage Nevada firms seeking work out of state.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about data and application. Administrator Davis said contracts executed with disabled‑veteran business owners account for roughly 5 to 7 percent of executed contracts depending on measurement approach, but he cautioned that data do not show whether the existing preference changed award outcomes. Assemblymember DeLong asked about procurement for professional services, and Sayar explained that certain categories (for example, licensed architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, expert witnesses) are treated differently and may not be subject to formal competitive solicitation under NAC 333.1150 (as read into the record).
No formal committee vote on AB 336 was recorded at this hearing. The presenters provided resources and the committee closed the hearing and recessed.
