Foil Balloons, Catalytic Converters, Dogs: Nevada Has New Laws

If you were hoping to resell some catalytic converters with your leash-wearing dog who is carrying a foil balloon, you're having a bad day. Nevada has new laws on the books that are affective October 1st.

There are a slew of laws on the books, but one of the most obvious ones involve catalytic converters. Second to maybe the easily stolen Kia & Hyundai vehicles, stolen catalytic converter thieves cause major headaches. Heck, our station vehicle had ours stolen! These devices have a lot of precious metals that make it appealing to anyone with a Sawzall and a dream. Thankfully Senate Bill 243 puts the kibosh on used catalytic converters being sold by unlicensed. You'll have to be properly licensed and be able to prove you own it. You can be charged with unlawful possession if you have more than one without being qualified to do so. It sounds so obvious... glad it is on the books.

There are so many other new laws. Here are a few of our favorite and most quirky.

If you have your dog tethered up for more than half the day, you might not be a great dog owner. Senate Bill 269 makes it so it is now illegal to have your dog connected to tethers or chains for more than 10 hours a day. The laws on the books before October 1st had the limit at 14 hours. You also can't put those "pinch" choke collars on your dogs for more than that. You also can't have your dog in an enclosure that isn't big enough for the dog's size and stature. Again, it should be common sense. But here we are.

Ever walked into your local polling place and seen all of those partying youngsters? Oh, they were all old volunteers? Yeah. Well certain things that have been happening lately have had election workers in the figurative (and at times literal) crosshairs. Senate Bill 406 clearly defines what is not legal.

Now it is a crime to use force against an election official, or even threaten to do so. No trying to slow down their job of, you know, democracy. Also, no doxxing (releasing the personal information) of election workers if it could cause them harm.

Ever seen dopes take over an intersection in the valley to do donuts? Well, Metro has seen enough of it and now they'll be able to ruin some days the next time they see it. Assembly Bill 408 gives power to the police to tow the vehicles of people charged for reckless driving. It also makes it illegal to do those tricks in public areas which is another one of those "why wasn't that a law already" sort of laws.

Sure, there's a shortage of helium in the world and it is super important to keep MRI machines operating among other things. But your kid loves those shiny balloons. Well... we've got news.

Assembly Bill 321 pops the balloons of the foil balloon lovers of the world. It is now illegal in Nevada to sell a foil balloon with helium (or anything that'd make it float upwards). Why? Have you ever seen a foil balloon meet power lines? No? Check this out.

Boom. It's immediate. They take out the power to entire neighborhoods. That is a stupid way to do so. If you still want helium filled foil balloons, they'll need to be sold with a weight connected. Or you can just stick to the latex .

It should be a recurring theme: the lists Las Vegas and Nevada doesn't want to be on. We are sleep deprived. We don't fund our schools enough.  The lists go on and on. But this one hurts. Nevada has ranked near the bottom of WalletHub's 2023 "Best States" list.

The Silver State ranked 40th, just behind Arizona and just ahead of West Virginia. West. Virginia. We say that with all due respect but... West Virginia?! Where did it all go wrong?

Living in Nevada, you know the state has a lot going for it. Beautiful scenery and plenty of entertainment are certainly high among them. However there are some categories that continually seem to knock us down several pegs.

Have you ever tried to find a doctor in Las Vegas? Did you find one only to find out they are either not accepting new patients or are moving out of state soon?

Nationally, Nevada always finds itself near the bottom of the list in education, although many parents will applaud their child's school as being better than expected. Is it an educator problem or a parenting problem?

Nevada's cost of living has absolutely exploded over the last decade with homes ballooning in value. Incomes have improved in recent years, but not nearly as fast as expenses have shot up. In fact, the study found that Nevada's housing costs are the third highest in the country behind California and Hawaii. What happened?! It should come as no shock that the same study has Nevada 48th in home ownership.

The states surrounding Nevada seem to fair better. Utah ranked 15th on the list. Idaho even better at 8th. While California has an affordability problem, it was good enough to rank near the middle at 24th. Oregon and Arizona ranked 38th and 39th respectively.

Massachusetts took the top spot in WalletHub's study, but it is worth noting everyone's methodology varies a bit. US News And World Report has Nevada as 38th. Still not that hot, but not as bad.

With this pretty brutal report card, we decided to dive into the methodology and see if the rating that Nevada received was fair or foul. Let's see if we can save some Silver State face.

Nevada, especially Southern Nevada, was riding high before the 2008 recession. Crashing home prices made the valley an incredible bargain compared to other parts of the country. But as investors and Californians rolled in, the bargains came to an end.

This category took things like cost of living and median annual property taxes heavily into account. Thankfully Nevada's property taxes are comparatively low to other states. However the cost of living in Nevada has taken a major turn south in recent years.

One of the biggest factors into this score is the median debt to median earnings score. While Nevada once scored fairly decently, the Federal Reserve shows the state has slid into the red. There's just too much debt and not enough income to pay it. Other factors like foreclosure rate and wealth gap play into the score too.

Be honest, you winced a little when you read this category. But... 39th. Higher than you'd expect considering everything you hear (and experience). Two metrics weigh heavily in this metric, and one has to do with weight. The share of obese adults counts for double in their calculations. Nevada fares decent when it comes to obesity (must have been getting rid of the buffets). High school graduation rate is not so hot however. 36th in the nation, and dropping.

Nevada seems to benefit a bit from the methodology. Restaurants per capita counts for double and we tend to feed ourselves and our visitors well. Fitness centers per capita also counts for double and weather for triple. All told, Nevada has a lot going for it here. Is it perfect? No, but it is certainly a livelier and more fun place to live than most.

This one surprised even us. Nevada ranked as decently safe compared to the rest of the country. Things like property crime rate and law enforcement to citizen ratio played heavily into the rating. Thankfully, while Nevada could certainly improve in the crime department, it pales in comparison to several other states who lift Nevada to the better end of the list.