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6.01.2025

Nevada’s 2025 Legislative Session: Summary of Bills Impacting Young Children

Updated on June 3, 2025

Every other year, the Nevada Legislature meets for 120 days to pass laws, policies and budgets for the State of Nevada. During those 120 days, legislators are presented with thousands of bills to review. Here are a few of the bills that were brought up in the 2025 Legislative Session that impact young children and their families. Click on the bill numbers to see more detailed information on each bill including an overview, text of the bill, and votes.

Bills that Passed - Although these bills were passed by the Legislature, many are still waiting to be approved by the Governor as of Tuesday, June 3rd:

• AB185 – Child Care – Prevents HOAs (Homeowner Associations or Common-Interest Communities) from restricting owners/tenants from operating a licensed home-based child care in the community, with some limitations.
• AB212 – Early Childhood Education – Extends the “Virtual Early Childhood Family Engagement Program” and allocates $2 million to the program.
• AB266 – Breastfeeding – Creates a public education and awareness campaign and revises policies regarding breastfeeding in public places.
• AB405 – Community Gardens & Urban Farms – Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a program to assist in the development of community gardens and urban farms in areas with high levels of food insecurity.
• SB257 – Autism – Revises requirements for assessment of autism spectrum disorder and addresses insurance coverage for the assessment and diagnosis.
• SB460 – Education/PreK – Educate Act – This bill includes a large number of revisions to education programs in the state, including some additional funding for PreK and removing income eligibility requirements for PreK.

Bills that Failed - There are many reasons that a bill may have failed, including not meeting deadlines for passage out of committee or having a fiscal note (funding need) that did not fit into the overall state budget:

• AB67 – Baby Bonds – Establishes a trust fund for children covered by Medicaid at birth which they could access after turning age 18. 
• AB268 – Universal Free Breakfast & Lunch in Schools – Allocates $43 million per year to provide grants to Nevada school districts to provide universal free breakfast and lunch.
• AB297 – Home-Visiting Programs – Expands access to qualified home-visiting programs for persons who are pregnant or have recently given birth by providing Medicaid coverage for these programs.
• AB340 – Health Insurance Coverage for Screenings – Requires health insurance, including Medicaid, to cover the costs for screening, assessment, and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities and specific learning disabilities.
• SB58 – PreK – Revises eligibility for the Nevada Ready! PreK program including moving income requirement from 200% FPL to 250% FPL, and serving all 4 year olds who have an individualized education program or who have a documented need for behavioral, social or emotional supports, regardless of income. Note: Many of these requirements were added to SB460 (see above).
• SB82 – Office of Early Childhood Systems – Establishes the Office of Early Childhood Systems in the Governor’s Office to coordinate and align early childhood programs and services.
• SB388 – Child Care – Requires the Child Care and Development Program (child care subsidy) to eliminate the parent co-payment for some families and limit co-pays to no more than 5 percent of gross income of the family for others.
• SB461 – Child Care/Economic Development -  This is the Governor’s bill to support economic development, which includes a tax credit for businesses who build or expand child care facilities.

Please note that the list above is not a complete list of bills and may not include all bills that may have an impact on young children or families with young children. For more information on the 2025 Legislative Session, read our article from the January 2025 newsletter, Nevada’s 2025 Legislative Session – What to Expect and How to Get Involved, which includes links to helpful resources and information.