Assembly Bill (AB) 280, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson (D), among others, establishes a preference in bidding for Nevada companies on state contracts. This preference has been sorely needed as we’ve seen Nevadan’s tax dollars go to out-of-state companies for in-state projects. The Bill, which was signed into law on June 13th and went into effect on the first of last month, is long overdue for Nevada.

The Bill establishes provisions for Nevada-based businesses for state purchases and provides a penalty for businesses misrepresenting as Nevada-based companies. In a nutshell, Nevada businesses now have a 5 percent preference when bidding on state contracts. This means that any bids on state projects from qualified Nevada companies will be considered to be 5 percent lower than those from out-of-state companies. In addition, the Bill allows for the weight of factors used to determine if the proposal is in the best interest of Nevada to be disclosed before proposals are submitted, a disclosure which was previously prohibited. All in all, AB280 is good for Nevada businesses.

AB280 serves as an amendment to Chapter 333 of the Nevada Revised Statute and was supported by the business community, including the Southern Nevada-based Metro Chamber. There are, of course, some important caveats businesses should be aware of when it comes to this Bill. Businesses that are applying for the preference must certify that their principal place of business is Nevada or that a majority of the goods provided within the state purchasing contract are produced in Nevada. In addition, the Bill doesn’t allow for the preference to be applied to any contract that uses federal money unless that preference is also authorized by Federal law. Those fail-safes are by no means unreasonable, especially when you consider that legislators want to ensure the preference is actually being used by Nevada businesses for Nevada projects.

It’s been painful to watch so many jobs go to out-of-state companies when qualified products and services were available right here in Nevada. Seeing this Bill enacted gives me hope that businesses throughout Nevada will finally be getting a break from the state … a state they’ve been supporting through taxes, job provisions and community engagement. In fact, I hope this Bill is the first of many designed to make Nevada as business-friendly as possible. On behalf of businesses throughout the state, I’d like to thank our legislators and Governor Sandoval for passing and signing into law this long-overdue provision.

CALL TO ACTION: We should applaud our elected officials for getting this one right. At the same time, we must be diligent to continue to present our Nevada representatives with more common-sense ways to boost business. As we all know, when business thrives, so do our communities and the state as a whole.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

By Whose Authority?
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