Clock is ticking for bills in Nevada Legislature

Bills to lower the gambling age to 18, make English the official language of Nevada and allow the use of fish for pedicures — along with dozens of others near and dear to lawmakers — need to get out of committee by Friday. If not, they are dead for the session, although attempting to resurrect a proposal by amending it into another measure late in the session can be done.

Assembly Minority Floor Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, said the week will be hectic. Some committees are not as far along as they should be, he said. “We’ve piled stuff up to the very bitter end.”

Assembly Commerce and Labor Chairwoman Irene Bustamante Adams, D-Las Vegas, has done a great job staying on track, but some other committees are far behind even for just hearing bills, Anderson said.

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, said the Senate committees should have no problems getting priority legislation processed by the deadline. “We are confident we will see them through to the finish line.”

Getting Democratic bills through the Legislature is one thing, but they ultimately must win support from Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican.

Ford said he is optimistic that “our priorities are reflective of the governor’s priorities as well.”

Partisan fighting

Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, has been critical of the failure of the Democratic majorities to hear Republican measures this session.

This past week, he called on Democrats to hear many of the measures proposed by Attorney General Adam Laxalt, including those dealing with domestic violence, sex trafficking of children and rape kits.

“While the Assembly and Senate have found time to hear legislation concerning fish pedicures and marijuana massages, they have not found time to hear important legislation that would have a profound impact on the victims of violent crimes in Nevada,” Roberson said.

Anderson said the attorney general’s bills could have moved weeks ago.

“Some of them very bipartisan, bicameral bills things that have nothing to do with politics, they are simply good public safety issues being held up because of politics,” he said.

Deadline exempt

Some bills could qualify for exemptions from the deadline, but they need action in the policy committees where they reside to get into the Legislature’s money committees.

Sandoval’s Education Savings Account bill is eligible for an exemption, but it is awaiting action in the Senate Education Committee. The controversial measure, supported by Republicans, is both a policy and funding measure with $60 million in recommended appropriations.

Sen. Tick Segerblom’s Senate Bill 302 to speed up the process of recreational marijuana sales using medical marijuana dispensaries is also eligible, but it is sitting in the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee.

Both bills need to move to the Senate Finance Committee by Friday. Committees can and often do send bills with fiscal impacts to the money committees with no recommendation just to keep them alive.

Ford said the ESA bill will move to Finance by the deadline and will remain in play through the end of the session as part of the final spending discussions.

Living and dying

Many measures, including a lot of bills from Republican lawmakers, never had a chance. The gambling age and English language bills never had hearings scheduled and will die on Friday.

Dozens of other bills are in this same situation, including most of Roberson’s measures. A resolution that would ask Congress to convey public lands to Nevada, for example, will certainly die at midnight Friday.

Some bills have had hearings, but getting measures out that may need major amendments will be a challenge. Others have been heard and are simply awaiting a committee vote to move the bills to the full Senate or Assembly by the next deadline of first house passage by April 25.

Different rules

Finally, there are a few bills that legislative leaders have declared exempt from deadlines. One is Senate Joint Resolution 11, which would amend the state constitution to have legislators meet annually. The measure has not had a hearing and would have to pass two sessions and a vote of the people to take effect.

Segerblom’s bill to rename McCarran International Airport is awaiting action in the Senate Government Affairs Committee. A bill to abolish the death penalty needs a vote in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Limited progress

For some measures, the deadline is irrelevant.

Assembly Joint Resolution 2, which seeks to amend the state constitution to protect same sex marriage, passed the Assembly and is awaiting action in the Senate. It will have to pass again in 2019 and go to the voters in 2020 before it could take effect.

And Senate Bill 115, prohibiting concealed weapons in libraries without written permission, passed the full Senate on a 12-9 vote and is now in the Assembly.

A handful of measures have gone to Sandoval’s desk and been signed into law. But they are few in number.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.