Marnie Whalen of the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services presented Assembly Bill 551 to the Nevada Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services in a bill hearing held remotely from Carson City and Las Vegas. Whalen told the committee AB551 would require FBI fingerprint-based background checks, local law enforcement checks and proof of work eligibility for employees and contractors of the division at initial appointment and reinvestigation every five years to comply with federal requirements.

Whalen said the division is mandated under IRS Publication 1075 to maintain safeguards, including controlled access and employee vetting, for staff who handle federal tax information used to determine eligibility for public assistance. She told the committee the division currently runs preemployment fingerprints under the authority of NRS 239B.010, which authorizes initial appointment background checks, but the division was notified by the Department of Public Safety that the statute does not provide authority for the reinvestigations required by the IRS. She said the bill is intended to enable the division to comply with the federal requirement.

Whalen also said the Department of Taxation previously updated similar language, and AB551 mirrors that change. Committee staff member Davis Florence introduced the bill on the record and the committee received the presentation with no substantive questions from members recorded in the transcript.

The committee opened the hearing for public testimony in Carson City and Las Vegas and on the telephone line; no in-person or telephonic witnesses offered support, opposition or neutral testimony. The committee closed the bill hearing and proceeded to the meeting's public comment period, where again no members of the public spoke.

The hearing record shows presentation and committee acknowledgment but does not record a committee vote or other formal committee action on AB551 during this session.