10000 W. Charleston Blvd.

, Suite 165
Las Vegas, NV 89135
PH: (702) 735-4888 FAX: (702) 735-4620

July 8, 2020

The Honorable Steve Sisolak

Nevada Governor
State Capitol Building
101 N. Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701

Dear Governor Sisolak:

On behalf of all Nevadans, we thank you for your continued leadership and dedication to the health
and safety of our residents and visitors. We have appreciated the open lines of communications to
your office and your collaboration with the Resort Industry since the beginning of this crisis.
As you are aware, our members have taken extraordinary measures to protect the safety and well-
being of our guests and employees while following government health guidelines in good faith.
Our members are abiding by the strict regulations of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the
Nevada Gaming Commission and have implemented protocols that meet or exceed the health and
safety guidance from your office, gaming regulators, the Nevada’s Local Empowerment Advisory
Council, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local health authorities and local licensing
departments to create the safest environment possible. Furthermore, given the evolving nature of
these recommendations and directives, our members are continually reevaluating and adjusting their
policies and procedures as more is learned about the virus.
For months, the Resort Industry has worked with top medical and public health experts to ensure
their sophisticated health and safety plans and protocols are science-based, data-driven and
consistent with the latest information about COVID-19 for the protection of all those who enter
Nevada’s resort properties. Our members have allocated millions of dollars in the latest technology,
employee testing and sanitation and disinfection measures to create a safe workplace that meets the
U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
Nevada’s Resort Industry is heavily invested in safeguarding our constituencies and ending this
public health emergency in partnership with your office, public health experts and Nevada’s gaming
regulators as the survival of the tourism industry depends on it.
In addition to protecting patrons and colleagues, our members are also focused on pushing
Nevada’s recovery efforts forward and getting Nevadans back to work as safely as possible. We
write today in regard to an urgent item that may derail our collective progress – an item that is
critical to the future of Nevada’s largest industry and, therefore, the state’s economic foundation
and tax base: Liability protections.
Everything we know about COVID-19 indicates that this is a highly transmissible virus. The threat
of unfounded litigation related to this virus looms, even for those companies that diligently and
faithfully implement all government guidelines, and presents an immediate danger to Nevada’s
economic recovery given its dependence on the tourism industry. The risk of frivolous litigation
that mounts each day threatens the Resort Industry’s continued operations.

Due to the urgency of this matter, we respectfully urge you to take up liability protections and call
for a Special Session immediately following the 31st Special Session to do so. We ask you consider
enacting a targeted and limited safe harbor from liability for companies that implement strict public
health guidelines related to the transmission of COVID-19. Nevada businesses cannot wait any
longer for purported federal action.

We believe all businesses that are working responsibly and in good faith to ensure the most secure
environment as possible, like our members, should not be subject to expensive litigation, which
only delays a company’s ability to bring back workers and further restrains economic
revival. Instead, lawsuits should focus solely on those bad actors that fail to take necessary steps to
protect their employees and customers.

Our members recognize these are challenging times for all businesses as the community pulls
together to recover. Providing liability protections for businesses that follow the rules is critical to
our momentum and the health of Nevada’s economic engine.
Thank you for your consideration on this matter. Please contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,

Virginia Valentine
President of the Nevada Resort Association