Key deadline caps busy 10th week of Nevada Legislature

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers picked up the pace in the 10th week of the legislative session, with debates on marijuana taxes, the so-called pink tax and collective bargaining for state workers.

They also scrambled to meet a deadline for bills to be kept alive — a stark reminder that lawmakers propose many bills, but far fewer become law.

Deadline push

Friday was the deadline for most bills to get out of committee. Bills that don’t are considered dead, unless they were given a waiver. Legislative committees acted on scores of bills in Friday meetings to keeping them alive as the session continues.

Dozens of other bills died.

Marijuana tax

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s marijuana tax bill was sent to the Senate Finance Committee without recommendation, which keeps the proposal alive a while longer. Senate Bill 508 would levy a 10 percent special tax on the sale of recreational marijuana. For Sandoval’s two-year budget proposal, the tax is expected to raise roughly $70 million for the state’s education fund.

State workers

Lawmakers took a pass on taking action on Senate Bill 486, which would put collective bargaining rights in place for state workers. The bill was pulled from Friday’s State Government Affairs Committee agenda, but it was granted an exemption from the committee deadline.

Sandoval has voiced strong objections to the bill, signaling a likely veto if Democrats vote it through.

Right to die

Senate Bill 261, which would allow physician-assisted suicide, was twice pulled from committee agendas. Although it did not get a vote, the proposal was granted a waiver. The bill would allow patients 18 or older to request life-ending drugs if their conditions are terminal and likely to result in death within six months.

Pink tax

Lawmakers took steps toward giving ladies a tax break when the Assembly Taxation Committee passed Assembly Bill 402. The bill would exempt diapers and feminine hygiene products, such as tampons and sanitary napkins, from state sales taxes.

A similar measure, Senate Bill 415, was passed in the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee. It does not include an exemption for diapers.

Because Nevada’s Sales and Use Tax Act of 1955 was enacted by voters as a referendum, only a vote of the people can change it. The measures would appear on the 2018 general election ballot if approved by the Legislature.