Bill
AJR 7
Establishes a 7-member Citizens' Commission to set salaries/benefits for Nevada legislators and state officers, removing direct legislative control and adding public hearings.
Status
- Introduced January 31, 2025; amended and passed by the 2025 Legislature. Enrolled and filed with the Secretary of State (Res. Chapter 160) on August 29, 2025.
- Because it proposes a constitutional amendment, it must be passed in identical form by the next Nevada Legislature and then approved by voters before taking effect.
Purpose / Intent
- Transfer authority to set salaries and benefits for specified statewide elected officers and legislators from the Legislature to an independent, citizen compensation commission to reduce perceived political conflicts and provide a regular, publicly transparent process for compensation decisions.
Key provisions
- Creates a new Article 4, Section 33A establishing a Citizens’ Commission on Compensation for Certain Elected Officers.
- Scope: Commission fixes salaries and benefits for members of the Legislature and for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller and Attorney General.
- Commission composition (7 members, appointed by the Governor):
- 1 public compensation expert (recommended by Public Employees’ Retirement Board)
- 1 representative of a nonprofit public interest organization
- 1 representative of the general public
- 2 representatives of business interests
- 2 members with labor-organization experience (recommended by a state labor organization)
- Qualifications and limits:
- Members must be Nevada residents and may not be state officers, public employees, lobbyists, or immediate family of those categories.
- Terms are 4 years (three initial appointments staggered with 2‑year terms); members limited to two terms. Removal only for cause.
- Members receive compensation and travel allowances as provided by law for comparable commissions.
- Process and transparency:
- Commission must study comparative compensation, fix salaries/benefits, and may exercise powers conferred by statute.
- Before filing any schedule, the Commission must hold at least four public meetings (Amendment requires meetings at locations across the state) to receive testimony. The last hearing is where the Commission must adopt the schedule.
- All meetings subject to open-meeting laws.
- Schedule, limits, and effective dates:
- Initial schedule due January 1, 2031 (amendment moved original 2029 date). Subsequent schedules due January 1 of each odd-numbered year.
- Except for the initial schedule, the Commission may not increase or decrease any covered officer’s salary by more than 15% from the immediately preceding schedule.
- Salaries take effect on defined dates: legislative schedules effective from the first Monday of February following the filing; other officers’ schedules effective July 1 following the filing.
- Constitutional changes:
- Repeals existing constitutional limits on the number of days a legislator may receive compensation during regular/special sessions (previously expressed as caps such as 60 and 20 days).
- Removes the Legislature’s constitutional authority (under certain circumstances) to increase or diminish constitutional officers’ salaries, transferring that authority to the Commission.
- Fiscal/administrative:
- Legislature must appropriate sufficient funds to pay salaries and benefits set by the Commission.
- Fiscal note in legislative documents: no direct effect on state or local government (administrative implementation anticipated within existing appropriations).
Who is affected
- Primary: Nevada legislators and the statewide constitutional officers listed above.
- Secondary: Nevada taxpayers and the state budgeting process (through appropriation of amounts set by the Commission), and members of the public who are granted statutory opportunities for input through required public meetings.
Procedural/timeline notes
- Although enacted by the 2025 Legislature and filed with the Secretary of State, the amendment requires identical passage by the next Nevada Legislature and approval by voters in a subsequent election to amend the state constitution.
- Initial salary schedule will not be effective until the Commission is established and files the schedule — the resolution sets January 1, 2031 as the deadline for the initial schedule.
Potential impacts (practical effects)
- Depoliticizes compensation setting by removing direct legislative control and establishing a regular review schedule.
- Caps adjustments between cycles at ±15%, reducing the likelihood of large, frequent swings in pay.
- Expands the Commission’s authority to set per‑day legislative compensation and compensation for duties performed outside sessions.
- Increases formal public participation (minimum four hearings across the state) and comparative study requirements prior to adopting schedules.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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