Nevada Assembly

Nevada State Assembly
Nevada State Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	6 terms (12 years)
New session started	February 7, 2011
Leadership
Speaker of the Assembly	John Oceguera, (D) since February 7, 2011
Speaker pro Tempore	Debbie Smith, (D) since February 7, 2011
Majority Leader	Marcus Conklin, (D) since February 7, 2011
Minority Leader	Pete Goicoechea, (R) since February 7, 2011
Structure
Members	42
Political groups	Democratic Party (26) Republican Party (16)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article 4, Nevada Constitution
Salary	$146.90/day + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 2, 2010 (42 seats)
Next election	November 6, 2012 (42 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
Assembly Chamber Nevada State Capitol Carson City, Nevada
Website
Nevada State Assembly

Coordinates: 39°09′42″N 119°45′58″W / 39.161643°N 119.766139°W / 39.161643; -119.766139 The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member districts. Each Assembly district contained approximately 47,400 people as of the 2000 census, although 2006 Census Bureau estimates suggest an average population of 59,400 per district. Term limits, limiting assembly members to six 2-year terms (12 years), took effect in 2010. Twelve members of the Assembly were termed out in 2010.

The Assembly met at the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City until 1971, when a separate Legislative Building was constructed south of the Capitol. The Legislative Building was expanded in 1997 to its current appearance to accommodate the growing Legislature. The lower house of the Legislature is referred to as an "Assembly" rather than the more common "House of Representatives."

Meetings

The Assembly, like the Senate, is composed of citizen legislators, receiving a relatively small ($130) per diem fee for the first 60 days of a given session. This tends to self-selection, with legislative service difficult for those without flexible jobs and/or large outside incomes, such as doctors and lawyers. The Assembly, again like the Senate, meets however long is necessary for the completion of all its business, up to a maximum of 120 days, beginning the first Monday in February of every odd-numbered year. While this is designed to limit the amount of time a legislator is away from their first job, in recent years 120 days has often not been enough time to complete legislative business, and after four straight regular sessions, special sessions had been called to finish up legislative business. This trend ended in 2011, which was not followed by a special session.

Leadership of the Assembly

The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full Assembly on passage of a floor vote. Other Assembly leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.

Assembly Chamber

The Nevada Assembly convenes in the south chamber of the Legislative Building. The carpet in the Assembly chamber is mainly red, in comparison to the Senate chamber, which is blue. The chamber galleries reflect the same carpet schemes. Many legislative documents and binders are colored red and blue to distinguish them between the Assembly and the Senate. Although the chamber is separated by a center aisle, the Assemblymen are not seated by party. Rather they are seated at the discretion of the Speaker. The Speaker's desk is always the first desk in the front row to the right, if you are looking out at the chamber from the Speaker's rostrum. Above the Speaker is a large gavel, which is engraved with the name of Speaker Joe Dini; the longest serving Speaker of the Nevada Assembly. Above the gavel is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, who was President when Nevada became a State in 1864. To the left of the main door to the chamber is a podium with a Bible, which is changed to different passages by the Assembly Sargeant-at-Arms.

Since 2003, one floor session has always been held in the Old Assembly Chambers in the State Capitol. The session usually begins with a presentation from the State Archivist regarding the history of the chamber, and then legislative business proceeds as usual. Because there are no screens or voting equipment in the old chamber, all business is hand-written on a chalk board, as it would have been done when the Assembly still met in the Capitol.

All joint-meetings and joint-sessions are held in the Assembly chamber, including the State of the State Address, the State of the Judiciary Address, and addresses from Nevada's federal delegation. Unlike in Congress, where the Speaker of the House presides over all joint-meetings and sessions (except when Congress counts the Electoral Votes after a Presidential election), the President of the Senate presides over joint-meetings and sessions instead of the Speaker of the Assembly.

Composition

75th Legislature (2011-2012)

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	28	14	42	0
Begin	26	16	42	0
Latest voting share	61.9%	38.1%

Leadership of the Assembly

The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly in the chief leadership position, controlling the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus, followed by confirmation of the full Assembly on passage of a floor vote. Other Assembly leaders, such as the majority and minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses according to each party's strength in the chamber.

Position	Name	Party	District
Speaker	John Oceguera	Democratic	16
Speaker pro tempore	Debbie Smith	Democratic	30
Majority Leader	Marcus Conklin	Democratic	37
Majority Whip	William C. Horne	Democratic	34
Assistant Majority Floor Leader	Marilyn Kirkpatrick	Democratic	1
Senior Chief Deputy Whip	Kelvin Atkinson	Democratic	17
Chief Deputy Whip	David Bobzien	Democratic	24
Chief Deputy Whip	Peggy Pierce	Democratic	3
Minority Leader	Pete Goicoechea	Republican	35
Assistant Minority Leader	Lynn D. Stewart	Republican	22
Minority Whip	Tom Grady	Republican	38
Minority Whip	Marcus Sherwood	Republican	21

Members of the 76th Assembly

District	Name	Party	Residence
1	Marilyn Kirkpatrick	Dem	Las Vegas
2	John Hambrick	Rep	Las Vegas
3	Peggy Pierce	Dem	Las Vegas
4	Richard McArthur	Rep	Las Vegas
5	Marilyn Dondero Loop	Dem	Las Vegas
6	Harvey Munford	Dem	Las Vegas
7	Dina Neal	Dem	North Las Vegas
8	Jason Frierson	Dem	Las Vegas
9	Richard "Tick" Segerblom	Dem	Las Vegas
10	Joe Hogan	Dem	Las Vegas
11	Olivia Diaz	Dem	North Las Vegas
12	James Ohrenschall	Dem	Las Vegas
13	Scott Hammond	Rep	Las Vegas
14	Maggie Carlton	Dem	Las Vegas
15	Elliot Anderson	Dem	Las Vegas
16	John Oceguera	Dem	Las Vegas
17	Kelvin Atkinson	Dem	North Las Vegas
18	Richard Carrillo	Dem	Las Vegas
19	Steven Brooks	Dem	Las Vegas
20	Crescent Hardy	Rep	Mesquite
21	Mark Sherwood	Rep	Henderson
22	Lynn Stewart	Rep	Henderson
23	Melissa Woodbury	Rep	Henderson
24	David Bobzien	Dem	Reno
25	Pat Hickey	Rep	Reno
26	Randy Kirner	Rep	Reno
27	Teresa Benitez-Thompson	Dem	Reno
28	Lucy Flores	Dem	North Las Vegas
29	April Mastroluca	Dem	Henderson
30	Debbie Smith	Dem	Sparks
31	Richard Daly	Dem	Sparks
32	Ira Hansen	Rep	Sparks
33	John Ellison	Rep	Elko
34	William Horne	Dem	Las Vegas
35	Pete Goicoechea	Rep	Eureka
36	Ed Goedhart	Rep	Amargosa Valley
37	Marcus Conklin	Dem	Las Vegas
38	Tom Grady	Rep	Yerington
39	Kelly Kite	Rep	Minden
40	Pete Livermore	Rep	Carson City
41	Paul Aizley	Dem	Las Vegas
42	Irene Bustamante Adams	Dem	Las Vegas

See also

• Nevada State Capitol
• Nevada Legislature
• Nevada Senate

External links

• Nevada Assembly
• Members of the Nevada Assembly
• Speakers of the Nevada Assembly (1864–2007)