ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A CHAMPION FOR EDUCATION
During his time in the State Assembly, Stephen was widely viewed as a champion to improve our school system for all Nevada students.
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Supported Public Education: Stephen fought for the state’s largest investment in education with safeguards that the money went directly to schools and not the CCSD bureaucracy.
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Relieved our Overcrowded Schools: Stephen passed a school construction bill that would help ease overcrowding by building new schools and renovating older facilities in the Clark County School District, without raising taxes. So far, 11 new schools have been built and more than 50 schools have had their facilities renovated.
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More Local Control with the CCSD Reorganization: Developed a plan that pushes power and money out of the CCSD’s bureaucracy and back down to schools. This allows teachers, parents and staff to work with principals to have more autonomy on how education dollars are spent by the people who work directly with our students
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Ensure the Marijuana Money Goes to Education: Last session, Lesley Cohen played political games with education funding by moving marijuana tax dollars away from helping our kids. Stephen will ensure those dollars make it into the classroom as intended.
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Fighting for Our Educators: Though CCSD receives money from the state for pay raises, the school district does not need to spend the money for that purpose. Stephen fought to change that. He advocated for legislation that requires the money the state approves for pay raises makes it into educators’ paychecks and health insurance. Stephen also voted to establish the first state program to reimburse teachers for spending out-of-pocket money on school supplies.
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Expanded School Choice: He also supported Education Savings Accounts and Opportunity Scholarships which empower parents to choose the best educational environment for their children.
SCHOOL SAFETY
As the father of two young children, Stephen has made protecting the safety of our students a priority. He has worked on multiple pieces of legislation to ensure we keep them safe.
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Closing a Huge Gap in School Safety: After hearing stories of jurisdictional confusion leading to police failing to respond to serious school threats, Stephen wrote legislation (AB321) that closed a huge gap in school safety by requiring that local law enforcement provide protection for all schoolchildren in areas that do not have their own school police department.
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Strengthening Sex Crimes Laws Against Students: Stephen voted to require that any school employee or school volunteer who commits a sex crime against a student be registered as a sex offender and voted to prevent the sealing of the court records.
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Banning U-turns in School Zones: Stephen helped improve pedestrian safety of our children by passing to ban U-turns in school zones during school hours.
SUPPORTING BUSINESSES & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Stephen has been a strong supporter of business and economic growth. He believes that can happen by streamlining business regulations and ensuring that economic opportunities are widespread. This will lead to the growth of good-paying jobs.
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Expanded Job Training Program in High-Demand Fields: Stephen worked with businesses along with career and technical schools, community colleges, and apprenticeship programs to provide workforce training for new jobs in high-demand industries such as manufacturing, health care and solar. This will allow companies to grow and give individuals the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to get a good-paying job.
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Growing Local Businesses: Supported the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to create the Nevada Grow Program that provides technical assistance to businesses already located and operating in Nevada that are expanding or ready to expand.
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Streamlined Business Registration: Decreased the administrative burden on businesses by establishing common business registration information on the state business portal that is used by state and local agencies and health districts to conduct necessary transactions.
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Supported Needed Changes in Construction Defect and Workers Compensation: Worked to reform construction defect laws because of the need to restore clarity to the process, encourage prompt resolution of disputes that will reduce litigation costs. Also, made needed revisions in worker compensation law dealing with employees who were injured while intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled substance.
HEALTH CARE / MENTAL HEALTH
For far too long, Nevada has been unable to meet the health care needs of its citizens. Stephen was proud to support policies that increased access to quality healthcare while keeping the heavy hand of the federal government out of the way.
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Creation of the UNLV Medical School: Nevada suffers through a shortage of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. That is why Stephen was proud to vote for the creation of the UNLV medical school and advocated for more residency programs so that Nevadan’s do not feel the need to leave the state to receive good healthcare.
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Improving Access to Health Care: Stephen worked to strengthen the law of the Patient Center Medical Home model, whereby patient treatment is coordinated through their primary care physician to ensure they receive the necessary care when and where they need it, in a manner they can understand. This will allow employers, health trusts, and health insurance companies to provide better health care options while keeping costs affordable.
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Working on a Sound Mental Health Policy: Last year, Clark County spent $77 million forcibly committing 11,000 people who were deemed a threat to others or themselves then releasing them back out on the streets without appropriate treatment, getting little value for the money spent. Stephen supports stronger mental health and other health care services throughout the state which will result in better treatment results and significant cost savings through programs such as Nevada’s Federally Qualified Health Center Incubator Project.
SENIORS
Stephen helped protect seniors from financial and elderly abuse while ensuring that healthcare issues affecting older adults were addressed.
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Protecting Seniors from Guardianship Abuse: When private guardians abused their authority by unnecessarily liquidating estates, the law provided little to protect seniors and their hard-earned assets, leaving the most vulnerable to financial abuse. Stephen supported much needed change. He voted to require more oversight of private guardians and stronger safeguards to prevent financial abuse. Stephen also voted to allow for out-of-state family members to be appointed as guardians.
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Cognitive Care for Seniors: Stephen pushed for an urgently needed in-depth study to assist lawmakers in how to address the behavioral and cognitive issues associated with older adults.
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Supported the Nevada CARE Act: Stephen helped seniors receive better out-patient care by voting for a law designed to help caregivers stay informed when a family member or friend is in the hospital, and be better prepared to take care of their loved one at home following a hospital stay.
VETERANS
As a son of an Army Veteran, Stephen has been a strong advocate for our state’s veteran and military families.
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New Veterans Home: Approved money to build a second Veterans Home in the state that will nearly double the nursing home beds available for our Veterans.
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Assisting Military Sexual Trauma survivors: Stephen supported legislation that created new services at the Veterans Services Department for survivors of military sexual trauma and sexual assaults.
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Incentive to Hire Veterans: Stephen fought to protect those who protected our country by providing employment incentives to businesses that hire long-term unemployed Veterans and members of the military families.
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Creation of the Office off Military Legal Assistance: Stephen supported providing pro bono legal assistance and representation to active duty, reserve and National Guard members in a wide area of civil law matters by voting to create the Office of Military Legal Assistance. This comprehensive, statewide program combines the joint efforts of legal aid organizations, private sponsors and the State Bar of Nevada to address the need for affordable legal representation in our military communities.
PROTECTING OUR FAMILIES / VICTIMS RIGHTS
Stephen has worked with law enforcement and community leaders to put into place policies that keep our communities safe.
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Extending the Statute of Limitation on Sexual Assault Crimes: Inspired by an alleged victim of Bill Cosby, Stephen voted to extend the statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes from four years to twenty years.
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Closed a Loophole in DUI Law: Stephen pushed to close a loophole in DUI law that gave people the incentive to leave the scene of an accident when intoxicated because they would face less jail time if charged for a hit-and-run instead of a DUI.
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Expanding Victims’ Rights: Supported Marcy’s Law, a bipartisan measure that ensures crime victims’ rights are codified in Nevada constitution.
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Putting More Cops on the Beat: Stephen stood with law enforcement to provide funds to combat crime which allowed for the hiring of 285 more police officers in Clark County, including 26 officers in Henderson.