Neon closer to becoming official Nevada state element
Neon is one step closer to joining the likes of the bristlecone pine and desert tortoise as an official symbol of the Silver State after lawmakers voted a bill out of committee Monday.
Assembly Bill 182, which would designate the noble gas as the official state element, was heard in the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs. The bill is being pushed by a group of fifth- and sixth-grade students from the Carson Montessori School, a public charter school in Carson City, and their teacher, Will Durham. Durham is also a preserver of neon signs and director of the Nevada Neon Project.
Several of Durham’s students helped present the bill and answered questions from lawmakers.
Typically committees must wait 24 hours after an initial hearing to hold a work session vote on a bill. But after the hearing on AB 182, lawmakers voted to suspend the rules so that they could vote the bill out of committee immediately. It was approved unanimously, and now heads to the Assembly floor for a full vote.
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.
