1. Senate Bill No. 533–Committee on Government Affairs

CHAPTER........

AN ACT relating to governmental administration; authorizing a designee of the clerk of the

state board of examiners to approve certain contracts on behalf of the board; and

providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 284.173 is hereby amended to read as follows:

  1. 284.173 1. Elective officers and heads of departments, boards,
  1. commissions or institutions may contract for the services of persons as
  1. independent contractors.
  1. 2. An independent contractor is a natural person, firm or corporation
  1. who agrees to perform services for a fixed price according to his or its own
  1. methods and without subjection to the supervision or control of the other
  1. contracting party, except as to the results of the work, and not as to the
  1. means by which the services are accomplished.
  1. 3. For the purposes of this section:
  1. (a) Travel, subsistence and other personal expenses may be paid to an
  1. independent contractor, if provided for in the contract, in such amounts as
  1. provided for in the contract. Those expenses must not be paid pursuant to
  1. the provisions of NRS 281.160.
  1. (b) There must be no:
  1. (1) Withholding of income taxes by the state;
  1. (2) Coverage for industrial insurance provided by the state;
  1. (3) Participation in group insurance plans which may be available to
  1. employees of the state;
  1. (4) Participation or contributions by either the independent contractor
  1. or the state to the public employees’ retirement system;
  1. (5) Accumulation of vacation leave or sick leave; or
  1. (6) Coverage for unemployment compensation provided by the state
  1. if the requirements of NRS 612.085 for independent contractors are met.
  1. 4. An independent contractor is not in the classified or unclassified
  1. service of the state, and has none of the rights or privileges available to
  1. officers or employees of the State of Nevada.
  1. 5. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, each contract for
  1. the services of an independent contractor must be in writing. The form of
  1. the contract must be first approved by the attorney general, and, except as
  1. otherwise provided in subsection 7, an executed copy of each contract must
  1. be filed with the fiscal analysis division of the legislative counsel bureau
  1. and the clerk of the state board of examiners. The state board of examiners
  1. may waive the requirements of this subsection in the case of contracts
  1. which are for amounts less than $750.
  2. 6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, and except contracts
  1. entered into by the University and Community College System of Nevada,
  1. each proposed contract with an independent contractor must be submitted
  1. to the state board of examiners. The contracts do not become effective
  1. without the prior approval of the state board of examiners, but the state
  1. board of examiners may authorize its clerk or his designee to approve
  1. contracts which are:
  1. (a) For amounts less than $5,000 or, in contracts necessary to preserve
  1. life and property, for amounts less than $25,000.
  1. (b) Entered into by the state gaming control board for the purposes of
  1. investigating an applicant for or holder of a gaming license.
  1. The state board of examiners shall adopt regulations to carry out the
  1. provisions of this section.
  1. 7. Copies of the following types of contracts need not be filed or
  1. approved as provided in subsections 5 and 6:
  1. (a) Contracts executed by the department of transportation for any work
  1. of construction or reconstruction of highways.
  1. (b) Contracts executed by the state public works board or any other state
  1. department or agency for any work of construction or major repairs of state
  1. buildings if the contracting process was controlled by the rules of open
  1. competitive bidding.
  1. (c) Contracts executed by the housing division of the department of
  1. business and industry.
  1. (d) Contracts executed by the state industrial insurance system.
  1. (e) Contracts executed with business entities for any work of
  1. maintenance or repair of office machines and equipment.
  1. 8. The state board of examiners shall review each contract submitted
  1. for approval pursuant to subsection 6 to consider:
  1. (a) Whether sufficient authority exists to expend the money required by
  1. the contract; and
  1. (b) Whether the service which is the subject of the contract could be
  1. provided by a state agency in a more cost-effective manner.
  1. If the contract submitted for approval continues an existing contractual
  1. relationship, the board shall ask each agency to ensure that the state is
  1. receiving the services that the contract purports to provide.
  1. 9. If the services of an independent contractor are contracted for to
  1. represent an agency of the state in any proceeding in any court, the contract
  1. must require the independent contractor to identify in all pleadings the
  1. specific state agency which he is representing.

Sec. 2. This act becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 1999.

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