VETOED
Governor Joe Lombardo
His War on Nevada Workers
30
Pro-Worker Bills
Vetoed
2
Legislative
Sessions
0
Apologies to
Nevada Workers
During the 2023 and 2025 Nevada legislative sessions, Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed 30 bills that would have protected wages, expanded bargaining rights, improved workplace safety, and secured better benefits for Nevada's working families. Nevada workers deserved better. Remember in November.

2023 Legislative Session

16 Pro-Worker Bills Vetoed
AB 11 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Protected physicians and other healthcare providers by prohibiting hospital contracts that restricted discussions of wages and working conditions or imposed noncompete agreements. It also generally prohibited hospitals from directly employing physicians, with exceptions.
Lombardo's excuse
He argued that prohibiting hospital employment of physicians would worsen Nevada's physician shortage, undermine recruitment, interfere with student-loan-forgiveness opportunities and reduce access to care.
AB 172 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Required school districts to provide recognized unions with bargaining-unit employee contact information. It also made state-employee parking and transportation a mandatory subject of bargaining.
Lombardo's excuse
He called the bargaining requirements "onerous," argued they placed employees on unequal footing and said workers should have to affirmatively opt in before their information could be provided to a union.
AB 224 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Established statutory collective-bargaining rights for NSHE professional employees, including qualifying part-time and seasonal faculty; created bargaining units, representation rights, unfair-labor-practice protections, grievance arbitration and enforcement procedures.
Lombardo's excuse
He said the Board of Regents already had authority to bargain, objected to extending bargaining rights to unclassified and part-time employees, and argued the bill intruded on management rights involving staffing, performance standards and delivery of services.
AB 235 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Extended prevailing-wage protections to workers performing custom fabrication of nonstandard materials for public works and government performance contracts, including certain off-site fabrication.
Lombardo's excuse
He said it would increase infrastructure costs and create enforcement and litigation problems when fabrication occurred outside Nevada or away from the project site.
AB 282 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Required school districts to provide qualifying full-time substitute teachers at least $450 per month toward health insurance after 30 consecutive teaching days.
Lombardo's excuse
He acknowledged the need to improve substitute-teacher compensation but called them temporary employees, said eligibility was overly broad and administratively burdensome, noted charter-school substitutes were excluded, and suggested raising daily pay instead.
AB 305 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Sought to expand women's access to union apprenticeship and construction careers by requiring, where practicable, that women perform part of the apprentice hours already required on public works — 2% on vertical construction and 1% on horizontal construction.
Lombardo's excuse
He supported the goal but said Nevada had fewer than 250 female apprentices and some trades had none, making the benchmarks practically impossible to meet.
AB 437 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Prevented healthcare providers from charging workers for completing FMLA certification forms if they had treated the patient within three years; otherwise capped the charge at $25.
Lombardo's excuse
He called the goal admirable but said the bill improperly interfered with ordinary business activity and that providers should determine charges based on the staff time required.
AB 456 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Established railroad-safety protections, including wayside detector requirements, emergency access across blocked crossings and a 7,500-foot limit on certain trains — benefiting railroad workers, emergency responders, and surrounding communities.
Lombardo's excuse
He argued the train-length limitation was a legislative overreach and would likely be invalidated as an unconstitutional burden on interstate rail commerce.
AB 498 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Changed the PERS contribution formula for state employees so workers would pay one-half of the pension system's "normal cost," while the state absorbed the remaining actuarially required contribution, including unfunded-liability costs. Also modified NSHE's separate retirement program.
Lombardo's excuse
He said it permanently departed from the equal employer-employee contribution split, had uncertain and potentially unsustainable costs and was unnecessary given state-employee raises contained in AB 522.
SB 251 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Expanded mandatory bargaining over the transfer and reassignment of school-district support professionals and protected employees affected by reductions in force or surplus staffing situations.
Lombardo's excuse
He said it would restrict principals' ability to select staff and impose an inflexible statewide rule better handled through individual collective-bargaining agreements.
SB 299 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Removed statutory exemptions that allowed railroad and monorail construction work to escape Nevada's prevailing-wage requirements.
Lombardo's excuse
He said railroads were already federally regulated and claimed the practical effect would mainly be higher costs and burdens for new monorail projects.
SB 301 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Extended prevailing wages to workers supplying or removing aggregate, asphalt and concrete when their work was necessary to a public-works contract; funded additional Labor Commissioner enforcement.
Lombardo's excuse
He said expanding coverage to material suppliers and removers would increase construction costs and delays without adding training or safety requirements.
SB 319 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Granted state collective-bargaining rights to Category I, II and III peace officers serving in unclassified positions.
Lombardo's excuse
He argued that unclassified employees should not bargain because they are treated differently from classified employees and said the positions should first be reclassified.
SB 384 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Required labor standards to be considered when awarding federal broadband grants, including skilled training, safety programs, high-quality wages and benefits, local hiring and opportunities for underrepresented workers; union contractors could qualify through a collective-bargaining agreement.
Lombardo's excuse
He said the requirements would dramatically increase project costs and that the necessary workforce did not exist in rural Nevada, reducing the amount of broadband that could be built.
SB 429 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Required certain new or expanding businesses with at least 50 employees to provide paid family and medical leave as a condition of receiving state tax abatements.
Lombardo's excuse
He said Nevada already required general paid leave, the bill lacked sufficient administrative details, and the additional payroll obligation would make Nevada less competitive for business recruitment.
SB 433 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Strengthened prevailing-wage enforcement by authorizing the Labor Commissioner to determine whether a project was covered, regardless of how a local public body classified it, and to adopt uniform decision-making standards.
Lombardo's excuse
He said it gave the Labor Commissioner disproportionate authority and that cities and counties should retain control over public-works and prevailing-wage determinations.
SB 440 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Appropriated approximately $23.5 million for one-time payments to employees in several state bargaining units, implementing nonbinding arbitration awards.
Lombardo's excuse
He said AB 522 already addressed employee pay and that paying retroactive nonbinding arbitration awards would establish a bad precedent and create "perverse incentives" in compensation negotiations.

2025 Legislative Session

13 Pro-Worker Bills Vetoed
AB 112 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Guaranteed union-represented employees the same statutory right as other workers to use accrued sick leave to care for an immediate family member. Existing law excluded employees covered by a collective-bargaining agreement.
Lombardo's excuse
He said the benefit should be negotiated rather than guaranteed by law and that removing it from bargaining placed a "thumb on the scale in favor of labor."
AB 155 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Made class sizes and ratios of specialized instructional-support personnel mandatory subjects of collective bargaining for school employees.
Lombardo's excuse
He said unions could already raise class-size concerns, questioned whether districts could afford new schools and staff needed to comply, and warned of litigation and diversion of classroom funding.
AB 188 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Improved benefits for retired public employees by increasing Medicare-related subsidies, protecting accumulated health-reimbursement funds, easing reinstatement into PEBP, requiring cost reporting and ordering an interim PEBP study.
Lombardo's excuse
He said the appropriation was insufficient to cover increased reimbursement-account obligations and that the eligibility and reporting changes created administrative work and excessive financial risk for PEBP.
AB 213 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Revived and expanded the 2023 custom-fabrication proposal: required prevailing wages for off-site custom fabrication used on public projects and required certain preferred bidders to certify that nonstandard goods would be fabricated in Nevada.
Lombardo's excuse
He said applying prevailing wage regardless of where fabrication occurred created ambiguity, litigation risk, reduced bidding competition, higher taxpayer costs and burdens on smaller businesses.
AB 388 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Established up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for employees of the state, local governments and private employers with at least 50 employees; reduced eligibility to 90 days and provided wage replacement of up to 100%, anti-retaliation rights and enforcement remedies.
Lombardo's excuse
He said many businesses with 50 employees still functioned as small businesses, could not absorb the absences and administrative costs, and would face excessive civil liability, criminal penalties and fines.
AB 414 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Required qualifying large hybrid indoor-outdoor facilities to adopt air-quality and emissions safety programs, monitor air quality, watch employees for exposure symptoms, improve ventilation when standards were exceeded and generally shut off vehicle engines during loading and unloading.
Lombardo's excuse
He called the requirements costly and intrusive, said four-hour monitoring lacked scientific justification, and objected to the exemption for state agencies.
AB 434 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act: protected employees from discipline or retaliation for refusing to attend employer-sponsored "captive audience" meetings concerning political, religious or union matters.
Lombardo's excuse
He explicitly defended captive-audience meetings as an "essential and legally protected tool for management," called key terms vague and argued the law would chill employer speech and encourage frivolous retaliation claims.
SB 93 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Strengthened the previously vetoed broadband labor standards: gave 30% of grant scoring to labor criteria; required prevailing wages, health benefits, safety training and a workforce containing at least 50% Nevada residents; alternatively recognized contractors with qualifying CBAs.
Lombardo's excuse
He said the 30% labor score, prevailing wage, training and local-workforce rules were rigid, would increase costs, disadvantage small and rural contractors, reduce competition and delay broadband construction.
SB 160 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Strengthened handling of employment-discrimination complaints by moving the Nevada Equal Rights Commission to the Attorney General, requiring attorney review of complaints and final dispositions, improving complainant information and limiting administrative closure of unresolved complaints.
Lombardo's excuse
He said NERC should remain a neutral administrative body within DETR and argued moving it to an elected Attorney General could make the commission politically oriented and prosecutorial.
SB 182 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Established maximum nurse-to-patient and nursing-assistant ratios in larger Clark and Washoe hospitals; created technical- and service-worker staffing committees; required staffing records, reporting and inspections; protected workers reporting violations from retaliation.
Lombardo's excuse
He called the ratios a rigid, one-size-fits-all mandate and argued nursing shortages could force hospitals — particularly rural or underserved facilities — to reduce services or turn away patients.
SB 198 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Clarified that departing workers must receive earned bonuses, profit-sharing, fringe benefits and agreed 401(k) contributions on the regular payment date; strengthened waiting-time penalties for employers that withheld final wages.
Lombardo's excuse
He said accelerated payroll obligations and broader compensation calculations would burden employers, expose minor errors to litigation and create California-style liability, particularly for small businesses.
SB 301 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Again granted collective-bargaining rights to Category I, II and III unclassified state peace officers — the same proposal Lombardo vetoed in 2023 as SB 319.
Lombardo's excuse
He said it was identical to SB 319 and repeated that unclassified officers should first be converted to classified service before receiving bargaining rights.
SB 410 Veto Message →
What it would have done for workers
Clarified that insurance benefits for employees' dependents are a mandatory subject of bargaining between local governments and public-employee unions.
Lombardo's excuse
He said parties could already voluntarily negotiate dependent coverage and that making it mandatory placed a "thumb on the scale in favor of labor" and disturbed the balance between management and unions.

Additional Vetoes with Labor Provisions

Bills vetoed for other reasons that also stripped protections from workers

Bill Labor Protection Removed Lombardo's Rationale
2023 AB 74 Applied prevailing-wage protections to construction performed through certain NSHE affiliation agreements, even when the work was not otherwise considered a public work. He said it unnecessarily expanded prevailing wage to smaller NSHE projects and public-private partnerships, increasing costs and delays.
2023 AB 281 Required ventilation improvements in certain senior-living facilities and required corrective HVAC work to be performed by a skilled and trained workforce substantially composed of apprenticeship graduates. He said the work could already be funded administratively, newer standards might produce expensive upgrades, the grant process was unclear and the implementing agency's fiscal note was unfunded.
2025 AB 226 Required businesses receiving specified state tax abatements or transferable tax credits to submit a community-benefits agreement — securing local hiring, job-quality and workforce commitments. He said "community benefits" was undefined, requirements could vary between jurisdictions and enforcement would be arbitrary, burdensome and harmful to Nevada's business climate.
2025 SB 447 Allowed an eligible party to seek a writ of mandamus and attorney's fees when a public body improperly avoided Chapter 338 public-works contracting requirements — including prevailing-wage obligations — by mislabeling construction as maintenance. He said existing legal remedies were adequate and that expanding mandamus would encourage litigation, delay public projects and interfere with fact-specific procurement decisions.

Nevada Workers Are Watching

Thirty vetoes. Two sessions. One clear message from Joe Lombardo: corporations first, workers last. It's time to send a message back.

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