Each biennium, UNLV students engage in the legislative process in a variety of ways, including participating in policy development and the bill draft process, advocating for UNLV’s legislative agenda, and serving as legislative interns and externs to assist lawmakers with various duties such as tracking bills, conducting research, and meeting with constituents. The experience takes the classroom to the community, empowering students to have real-world impact on some of Nevada’s most critical issues. The opportunity is open to all UNLV majors, though most participants are political science and law majors.
Each week during the legislative session, we introduce you to one of the many UNLV students engaging in the legislative process during the Session. This week, we are highlighting a student intern from the UNLV College of Liberal Arts:
Name:
Aniyah Muhammad-Henry
Hometown:
Las Vegas
Major:
English
Role in Session:
Junior Lobbyist
What excites you most about the legislative session?
The fast pace and diverse meetings were the best part of the 82nd session! It was so interesting coming across individuals with different perspectives and backgrounds! I even met an alpaca!
What do you hope to learn?
During my time with Rowe Law, I had looked forward to interacting and meeting with my senators and assemblymen! I learned a lot from their shared experiences and just speaking with them gave me important insight to careers, relationships, and education that's too valuable.
Which legislative proposal do you find most interesting and why?
AB 155 from the 82nd session was a controversial bill that sought insurance coverage for Biomarker testing in specific instances. This bill was particularly interesting because of the many changes it went through to get to where it is now. AB 155 had as much support as it did opposition, and that was the first bill I encountered that actually had pushback and protestors from both sides. You get a sense of how divisive it was just from who sponsored, many names that don't often come together worked on this legislation! So many amendments were considered, and then deleted, and then reworked to fit the needs of those considered, so AB 155 was one I tracked on my own accord. In a way, this bill feels like my first step into the real world of politics, as I was finally exposed to the combative world you see on tv.