A.B. 508
- *AB508*
ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 508–COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
MARCH 24, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Ways and Means
SUMMARY—Revises various provisions relating to state financial
administration. (BDR 31-930)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation not included
in Executive Budget.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to state financial administration; requiring the
Economic Forum to provide an estimate of future State
revenue required to be credited to the State Education
Fund; revising provisions governing the disposition of
proceeds of the tax on wholesale sales of cannabis;
revising requirements for certain reservations of money in
and recommendations for the proposed executive budget
for the support of public schools; revising the date for
certain payments to the State Education Fund; making an
appropriation to the Cannabis Compliance Board; and
providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires the Governor, on or before July 1 of each even-numbered 1
year, to impanel an Economic Forum consisting of economic and financial experts 2
appointed by the Governor to provide an estimate of the revenue that will be 3
collected by the State for general, unrestricted uses during the subsequent biennium 4
and to make such additional projections for economic indicators as the Economic 5
Forum deems necessary to ensure that this estimate is accurate. (NRS 353.226, 6
353.228) Existing law creates the State Education Fund for the purpose of 7
supporting the operation of the public schools in this State and requires certain 8
revenues of the State be deposited in the Fund. (NRS 387.1212) Section 1 of this 9
bill requires the Economic Forum to provide, in addition to an estimate of general, 10
unrestricted revenues, an estimate of the revenue that will be collected by the State 11
in the subsequent biennium that is required to be deposited for credit to the State 12
Education Fund. 13
Existing law requires the Governor, to the extent practicable, to ensure that 14
money in the State General Fund is reserved in the proposed executive budget for 15
transfer to the State Education Fund in an amount that equals the amount 16
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transferred in the immediately preceding biennium: (1) plus the greater of the rate 17
of increase in revenue collected for general, unrestricted uses as projected by the 18
Economic Forum or the combined rate of inflation and the growth of enrollment in 19
the public schools in this State in the immediately preceding biennium; or (2) 20
decreased by an amount not greater than the rate of decrease for the revenue 21
collected by the State as projected by the Economic Forum. (NRS 387.12455) 22
Section 4 of this bill requires the amount reserved in the proposed executive budget 23
for transfer to the State Education Fund, if the Economic Forum projects an 24
increase in State revenue, to be the amount transferred during the immediately 25
preceding biennium plus the rate of increase in revenue collected for general, 26
unrestricted uses as projected by the Economic Forum, without taking into 27
consideration the combined rate of inflation and growth of enrollment in public 28
schools. Section 4 also no longer requires the Governor to consider projected 29
growth of enrollment in public schools when recommending statewide base per 30
pupil funding. 31
Existing law provides that if the final computation of apportionment for any 32
school district, charter school or university school for profoundly gifted pupils 33
exceeds the actual amount paid to that entity during the school year, the additional 34
amount due to the entity is required to be paid before September 1. If the final 35
computation of apportionment for any school district, charter school or university 36
school for profoundly gifted pupils is less than the actual amount paid to the entity 37
during the school year, the entity is required to pay the difference to the State 38
Education Fund before September 25. (NRS 387.1243) Section 3 of this bill 39
changes the date for such a payment to the State Education Fund by a school 40
district, charter school or university school for profoundly gifted pupils from before 41
September 25 to before September 1. 42
Existing law imposes an excise tax on: (1) the first wholesale sale in this State 43
of cannabis by a medical cannabis cultivation facility or an adult-use cannabis 44
cultivation facility to another cannabis establishment; and (2) each retail sale in this 45
State of cannabis or cannabis products by an adult-use cannabis retail store or 46
cannabis consumption lounge. Existing law requires the revenues collected from 47
the excise tax on wholesale sales of cannabis to first be distributed to the Cannabis 48
Compliance Board and to local governments to pay the costs of the Board and local 49
governments to carry out the provisions governing the sale and taxation of cannabis 50
and cannabis products. Any amount of revenue remaining after these distributions 51
is required to be deposited in the State Education Fund. Although existing law caps 52
the amount of revenue from wholesale sales which is authorized to be used to 53
pay the costs of local governments at $5,000,000, existing law does not place a 54
limit on the costs of the Board which are authorized to be reimbursed from such 55
revenues. (NRS 372A.290) Section 2 of this bill eliminates the requirement to use 56
revenue from the tax on wholesale sales of cannabis to pay the costs of the Board, 57
but retains the requirement for the Board to transfer $5,000,000 to local 58
governments for their costs. Section 5 of this bill makes an appropriation to the 59
Board to pay the costs of the Board to carry out certain provisions governing the 60
regulation of cannabis and cannabis products. 61
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 353.228 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
353.228 1. The Economic Forum impaneled pursuant to NRS 2
353.226 shall: 3
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(a) Make such projections for economic indicators as it deems 1
necessary to ensure that an accurate estimate is produced pursuant to 2
paragraph (b); 3
(b) Provide an accurate estimate of the revenue that will be 4
collected by the State [for] during the biennium that begins on 5
July 1 of the year following the date on which the Economic 6
Forum was empaneled: 7
(1) For general, unrestricted uses, and not for special 8
purposes [, during the biennium that begins on July 1 of the year 9
following the date on which the Economic Forum was empaneled;] ; 10
and 11
(2) For deposit to the credit of the State Education Fund; 12
(c) Request such technical assistance as the Economic Forum 13
deems necessary from the Technical Advisory Committee created 14
by NRS 353.229; 15
(d) On or before December 3 of each even-numbered year, 16
prepare a written report of its projections of economic indicators and 17
estimate of future state revenue required by paragraphs (a) and (b) 18
and present the report to the Governor and the Legislature; 19
(e) On or before May 1 of each odd-numbered year, prepare a 20
written report confirming or revising the projections of economic 21
indicators and estimate of future state revenue contained in the 22
report prepared pursuant to paragraph (d) and present the report to 23
the Governor and the Legislature; and 24
(f) Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, on or before 25
June 10 of each even-numbered year and December 10 of each odd-26
numbered year, hold a meeting to consider current economic 27
indicators, including, without limitation, employment, 28
unemployment, personal income and any other indicators deemed 29
appropriate by the Economic Forum. Based on current economic 30
indicators, the Economic Forum shall update the status of actual 31
State General Fund revenue compared to the most recent forecast of 32
the Economic Forum. The provisions of this paragraph are not 33
intended to authorize the Economic Forum to make additional 34
forecasts pursuant to paragraph (b). At the next appropriate meeting 35
of the Interim Finance Committee, the Chair of the Economic 36
Forum or a member of the staff of the Economic Forum shall 37
present to the Interim Finance Committee such matters considered at 38
the meeting of the Economic Forum held pursuant to this paragraph, 39
as the Economic Forum determines appropriate. Any such 40
information presented to the Interim Finance Committee must be 41
made available on the Internet website of the Legislature. 42
2. If the deadline for preparing a report or holding a meeting as 43
required in subsection 1 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal 44
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holiday, the deadline is extended to the second business day 1
following the deadline. 2
3. The Economic Forum may make preliminary projections of 3
economic indicators and estimates of future state revenue at any 4
time. Any such projections and estimates must be made available to 5
the various agencies of the State through the Chief. 6
4. The Economic Forum may request information directly from 7
any state agency, including, without limitation, the Nevada System 8
of Higher Education. A state agency, including, without limitation, 9
the Nevada System of Higher Education, that receives a reasonable 10
request for information from the Economic Forum shall comply 11
with the request as soon as is reasonably practicable after receiving 12
the request. 13
5. The Economic Forum may request direct testimony from 14
any state agency, including, without limitation, the Nevada System 15
of Higher Education, at a meeting of the Economic Forum or the 16
Technical Advisory Committee. The head, or a designee thereof, of 17
a state agency, including, without limitation, the Nevada System of 18
Higher Education, who receives a reasonable request for direct 19
testimony at a meeting of the Economic Forum or the Technical 20
Advisory Committee shall appear at the meeting and shall comply 21
with the request. 22
6. To carry out its duties pursuant to this section, the Economic 23
Forum may consider any information received from the Technical 24
Advisory Committee and any other information received from 25
independent sources. 26
7. Copies of the projections and estimates made pursuant to 27
this section must be made available to the public by the Director of 28
the Legislative Counsel Bureau for the cost of reproducing the 29
material. 30
Sec. 2. NRS 372A.290 is hereby amended to read as follows: 31
372A.290 1. An excise tax is hereby imposed on the first 32
wholesale sale in this State of cannabis by a medical cannabis 33
cultivation facility to another cannabis establishment at the rate of 34
15 percent of: 35
(a) The fair market value at wholesale of the cannabis, if the sale 36
is made to an affiliate of the medical cannabis cultivation facility; or 37
(b) The sales price of the cannabis, if the sale is made to a 38
cannabis establishment that is not an affiliate of the medical 39
cannabis cultivation facility. 40
The excise tax imposed pursuant to this subsection is the 41
obligation of the medical cannabis cultivation facility. 42
2. An excise tax is hereby imposed on the first wholesale sale 43
in this State of cannabis by an adult-use cannabis cultivation facility 44
to another cannabis establishment at the rate of 15 percent of: 45
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(a) The fair market value at wholesale of the cannabis, if the sale 1
is made to an affiliate of the adult-use cannabis cultivation facility; 2
or 3
(b) The sales price of the cannabis, if the sale is made to a 4
cannabis establishment that is not an affiliate of the adult-use 5
cannabis cultivation facility. 6
The excise tax imposed pursuant to this subsection is the 7
obligation of the adult-use cannabis cultivation facility. 8
3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 8, an excise tax 9
is hereby imposed on each retail sale in this State of cannabis or 10
cannabis products by an adult-use cannabis retail store or cannabis 11
consumption lounge at the rate of 10 percent of the sales price of the 12
cannabis or cannabis products. The excise tax imposed pursuant to 13
this subsection: 14
(a) Is the obligation of the seller of the cannabis or cannabis 15
product but may be recovered from the purchaser. 16
(b) Is separate from and in addition to any general state and 17
local sales and use taxes that apply to retail sales of tangible 18
personal property. 19
4. The revenues collected from the excise tax imposed pursuant 20
to subsection 1 must be distributed: 21
(a) To the Cannabis Compliance Board [and] for transfer to 22
local governments in an amount determined to be necessary by the 23
Board to pay the costs of the [Board and] local governments in 24
carrying out the provisions of chapter 678C of NRS; and 25
(b) If any money remains after the revenues are distributed 26
pursuant to paragraph (a), to the State Treasurer to be deposited to 27
the credit of the State Education Fund. 28
5. The revenues collected from the excise tax imposed pursuant 29
to subsection 2 must be distributed: 30
(a) To the Cannabis Compliance Board [and] for transfer to 31
local governments in an amount determined to be necessary by the 32
Board to pay the costs of the [Board and] local governments in 33
carrying out the provisions of chapter 678D of NRS; and 34
(b) If any money remains after the revenues are distributed 35
pursuant to paragraph (a), to the State Treasurer to be deposited to 36
the credit of the State Education Fund. 37
6. For the purpose of subsections 4 and 5, a total amount of 38
$5,000,000 of the revenues collected from the excise tax imposed 39
pursuant to subsection 1 and the excise tax imposed pursuant to 40
subsection 2 in each fiscal year shall be deemed sufficient to pay the 41
costs of all local governments to carry out the provisions of chapters 42
678C and 678D of NRS. The Board shall, by regulation, determine 43
the manner in which local governments may be reimbursed for the 44
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costs of carrying out the provisions of chapters 678C and 678D of 1
NRS. 2
7. The revenues collected from the excise tax imposed pursuant 3
to subsection 3 must be paid over as collected to the State Treasurer 4
to be deposited to the credit of the State Education Fund. 5
8. The excise tax imposed pursuant to subsection 3 does not 6
apply to a sale of cannabis for the medical use of cannabis or a 7
medical cannabis product to the holder of a registry identification 8
card or letter of approval by an adult-use cannabis retail store that 9
has been deemed to be a dual licensee pursuant to NRS 678D.490. 10
9. As used in this section: 11
(a) “Adult-use cannabis cultivation facility” has the meaning 12
ascribed to it in NRS 678A.025. 13
(b) “Affiliate” means a person who, directly or indirectly 14
through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is 15
under common control with, a specified person. 16
(c) “Cannabis product” has the meaning ascribed to it in 17
NRS 678A.120. 18
(d) “Letter of approval” has the meaning ascribed to it in 19
NRS 678C.070. 20
(e) “Local government” has the meaning ascribed to it in 21
NRS 360.640. 22
(f) “Medical cannabis cultivation facility” has the meaning 23
ascribed to it in NRS 678A.170. 24
(g) “Medical cannabis establishment” has the meaning ascribed 25
to it in NRS 678A.180. 26
(h) “Medical cannabis product” has the meaning ascribed to it in 27
NRS 678A.200. 28
(i) “Medical use of cannabis” has the meaning ascribed to it in 29
NRS 678A.215. 30
(j) “Registry identification card” has the meaning ascribed to it 31
in NRS 678C.080. 32
(k) “Wholesale sale” means the first sale or transfer of cannabis 33
by a cannabis cultivation facility to another cannabis establishment. 34
The term does not include a transfer of cannabis by a cannabis 35
cultivation facility to another cannabis cultivation facility when both 36
cannabis cultivation facilities share identical ownership. 37
Sec. 3. NRS 387.1243 is hereby amended to read as follows: 38
387.1243 1. The first apportionment based on an estimated 39
number of pupils and succeeding apportionments are subject to 40
adjustment from time to time as the need therefor may appear, 41
including, without limitation, an adjustment made for a pupil who is 42
not properly enrolled in or attending a public school, as determined 43
through an independent audit or other examination conducted 44
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pursuant to NRS 387.1238 or through an annual audit of the count 1
of pupils conducted pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 387.304. 2
2. On or before August 1 of each year, the board of trustees of 3
a school district shall provide to the Department, in a format 4
prescribed by the Department, the count of pupils calculated 5
pursuant to subparagraph (7) of paragraph (a) of subsection 2 of 6
NRS 387.1223 who completed at least one semester during the 7
immediately preceding school year. 8
3. If the final computation of apportionment for any school 9
district, charter school or university school for profoundly gifted 10
pupils exceeds the actual amount paid to the school district, charter 11
school or university school for profoundly gifted pupils during the 12
school year, the additional amount due must be paid before 13
September 1. If the final computation of apportionment for any 14
school district, charter school or university school for profoundly 15
gifted pupils is less than the actual amount paid to the school 16
district, charter school or university school for profoundly 17
gifted pupils during the school year, the difference must be repaid 18
to the State Education Fund by the school district, charter school 19
or university school for profoundly gifted pupils before 20
September [25.] 1. 21
Sec. 4. NRS 387.12455 is hereby amended to read as follows: 22
387.12455 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, 23
for the purpose of establishing budgetary estimates for expenditures 24
and revenues for the State Education Fund as prescribed by the State 25
Budget Act, the Governor shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that 26
an amount of money in the State General Fund is reserved in the 27
proposed executive budget for transfer to the State Education Fund 28
which is sufficient to fully fund: 29
(a) If the Economic Forum projects that the revenue collected by 30
the State for general, unrestricted uses will increase , [by a rate that 31
is greater than the combined rate of inflation and the growth of 32
enrollment in the public schools in this State in the immediately 33
preceding biennium,] an amount of money in the State General Fund 34
for transfer to the State Education Fund for the subsequent biennium 35
which is not less than the amount of money transferred to the State 36
Education Fund from the State General Fund for the immediately 37
preceding biennium increased by an amount not less than the rate of 38
increase for the revenue collected by the State for general, 39
unrestricted uses as projected by the Economic Forum. 40
(b) [If the Economic Forum projects that the revenue collected 41
by the State for general, unrestricted uses will increase by a rate that 42
is not greater than the combined rate of inflation and the growth of 43
enrollment in the public schools in this State in the immediately 44
preceding biennium, an amount of money in the State General Fund 45
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for transfer to the State Education Fund for the subsequent biennium 1
which is not less than the amount of money transferred to the State 2
Education Fund from the State General Fund for the immediately 3
preceding biennium increased by an amount not less than the 4
combined rate of inflation and the growth of enrollment in the 5
public schools in this State. 6
(c)] If the Economic Forum projects that the revenue collected 7
by the State for general, unrestricted uses will decrease, an amount 8
of money in the State General Fund for transfer to the State 9
Education Fund for the subsequent biennium which is not less than 10
the amount of money transferred to the State Education Fund from 11
the State General Fund for the immediately preceding biennium 12
decreased by an amount not greater than the rate of decrease for the 13
revenue collected by the State as projected by the Economic Forum. 14
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, as part of the 15
proposed executive budget, the Governor shall, to the extent 16
practicable, include recommendations for: 17
(a) The statewide base per pupil funding amount, which must be 18
equal to the statewide base per pupil funding amount for the 19
immediately preceding biennium increased by an amount not less 20
than the [combined] rate of inflation [and the growth of enrollment 21
in the public schools] in this State unless the amount of money 22
contained in the State Education Fund, excluding the Education 23
Stabilization Account, decreases from the immediately preceding 24
biennium, in which event the Governor must recommend a 25
proportional reduction to both the statewide base per pupil funding 26
amount and the multiplier for each category of pupils pursuant to 27
paragraph (b); and 28
(b) The multiplier for each category of pupils, which must not 29
be less than the multiplier for the immediately preceding biennium 30
unless: 31
(1) The amount of money contained in the State Education 32
Fund, excluding the Education Stabilization Account, decreases 33
from the immediately preceding biennium, in which event the 34
Governor must recommend a proportional reduction to both the 35
statewide base per pupil funding amount pursuant to paragraph (a) 36
and the multiplier for each category of pupils; or 37
(2) The amount of money contained in the State Education 38
Fund, excluding the Education Stabilization Account, increases 39
from the preceding fiscal year but in an amount which, after 40
recommending the statewide base per pupil funding amount 41
pursuant to paragraph (a), is insufficient to fund the multiplier for 42
each category of pupils, in which event the Governor must 43
recommend the remaining money in the State Education Fund, 44
excluding the Education Stabilization Account, be used to provide a 45
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multiplier for each category of pupils which is as close as 1
practicable to the multiplier for the preceding fiscal year. 2
3. When determining the amount of money to reserve for 3
transfer from the State General Fund to the State Education Fund 4
pursuant to subsection 1, the Governor shall consider the 5
recommendations of the Commission, as revised by the Joint 6
Interim Standing Committee on Education, if applicable, for an 7
optimal level of funding for education and may reserve an additional 8
amount of money for transfer to the State Education Fund that the 9
Governor determines to be sufficient to fund any recommendation 10
or any portion of a recommendation that the Governor includes in 11
the proposed executive budget. 12
4. As part of the proposed executive budget, the Governor may 13
recommend to the Legislature a revision to any appropriation made 14
by law pursuant to NRS 387.1214, including, without limitation, the 15
statewide base per pupil funding amount, the adjusted base per pupil 16
funding for any school district, the multiplier for weighted funding 17
for any category of pupils or the creation or elimination of a 18
category of pupils to receive additional weighted funding. The 19
Governor may recommend additional funding for any 20
recommendation made pursuant to this subsection. 21
5. If the Governor determines that it would be impracticable to 22
prepare the proposed executive budget as described in subsection 1 23
or 2, the Governor may instead include in the proposed executive 24
budget a recommendation for such funding for the public schools in 25
this State as he or she determines to be appropriate. If the Governor 26
includes in the proposed executive budget recommendations 27
pursuant to this subsection, the recommendations must be 28
accompanied by such recommendations for legislation as the 29
Governor determines to be appropriate to improve the method by 30
which funding for the public schools in this State is determined. 31
6. As used in this section, “rate of inflation” means the average 32
percentage of increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index for 33
All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as published by the 34
United States Department of Labor for the immediately preceding 3 35
calendar years or, if that index ceases to be published by the United 36
States Department of Labor, the published index that most closely 37
resembles that index, as determined by the Governor. 38
Sec. 5. 1. There is hereby appropriated from the State 39
General Fund to the Cannabis Compliance Board to pay the costs of 40
the Board in carrying out the provisions of chapters 678C and 678D 41
of NRS the following sums: 42
For the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 ............................. $15,969,281 43
For the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 ............................. $16,423,385 44
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2. Any balance of the sums appropriated by subsection 1 1
remaining at the end of the respective fiscal years must not be 2
committed for expenditure after June 30 of the respective fiscal 3
years by the entity to which the appropriation is made or any entity 4
to which money from the appropriation is granted or otherwise 5
transferred in any manner, and any portion of the appropriated 6
money remaining must not be spent for any purpose after 7
September 18, 2026, and September 17, 2027, respectively, by 8
either the entity to which the money was appropriated or the entity 9
to which the money was subsequently granted or transferred, and 10
must be reverted to the State General Fund on or before 11
September 18, 2026, and September 17, 2027, respectively. 12
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 13
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