LAST SESSION: What they did

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS: Legislators passed, and then overrode a veto by Gov. Jim Gibbons, of Senate Bill 283, which would allow same- or opposite- sex couples to register as domestic partners with the secretary of state. Such a partnership would provide many of the same legal rights that married couples have. The bill goes into effect Oct. 1.

FORECLOSURE MEDIATION: Gibbons signed Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley’s Assembly Bill 149, which would allow people facing foreclosure to request mandatory mediation to see whether they can secure loan modifications to allow them to remain in their homes. An estimated 17,700 homes might be kept out of foreclosure if lenders voluntarily agree to new loan arrangements.

HEPATITIS C: Legislators approved AB 123, which calls for unannounced visits by state regulators to ambulatory centers and doctors’ offices where physicians perform colonoscopies. These offices would be inspected at least annually and be required to use proper sanitary measures to ensure the safety of patients. Under AB 206, staff members who report unsanitary conditions would be protected from retaliation. This law stemmed from a hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas last year at ambulatory centers where unsanitary practices were allowed. The state Health Division also can immediately suspend the licenses of facilities where the public health or welfare requires such closures.

PIMP FINE: Legislators passed, and Gibbons signed, Assemblyman John Hambrick’s bill to confiscate the assets of pimps and fine them as much as $500,000 for using teens as prostitutes. Funds raised will be used for programs to rehabilitate teen prostitutes. Another new law makes it a felony to solicit the services of a teen prostitute.

PRIMARY ELECTION DATES: Gibbons signed Sen. Joyce Woodhouse’s bill that moves up the date of the primary election, which had been held in mid-August, to the second Tuesday in June. Candidates must file to run during the first two weeks of March. Legislators had complained that the oppressive summer heat made campaigning difficult and kept the vote total down.

PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST GAYS AND LESBIANS: The Legislature passed, and Gibbons signed, SB 207, which would prohibit discrimination in places of public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, against people based on their sexual orientation .

FAILED:

ELECTORAL COLLEGE REFORM: The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee let die an Assembly-passed bill that would bypass the electoral college and ensure that the presidential candidate with the most votes always would win the election.

HELMET LAW CHANGE: Once again, an attempt by Reno Assemblyman Don Gustavson to allow adults to ride motorcycles without helmets was killed by the Assembly Transportation Committee. Members were concerned that the state might have to cover hospital costs of helmetless drivers injured in accidents.

LOTTERY: The Senate Judiciary Committee killed without a vote a resolution to allow voters to decide whether to approve a Nevada lottery. Attempts to legalize a lottery have been opposed by the gaming industry and have failed every session for more than 30 years.

PAIN AND SUFFERING CAP CHANGE: An Assembly-approved bill to lift the $350,000 voter-approved caps on the "pain and suffering" damages patients can secure from their doctors in medical malpractice cases was killed in the Senate. The higher limit would have applied only in cases where patients could prove they were injured by the "gross negligence" of their doctors. The bill had been introduced in response to complaints from hepatitis C patients in Las Vegas.

PROSTITUTION TAX: Despite testimony from legal prostitutes who said they wanted to be taxed, the Senate Taxation Committee killed a bill to impose a $5 tax on sex acts performed by legal prostitutes. Some were concerned that approving the tax would legitimize prostitution.

SEAT BELT LAW CHANGE: The Assembly Transportation Committee killed a Senate-passed bill to allow police to pull over motorists for failing to wear seat belts. Nevada has a secondary seat belt law under which police first must cite the motorist for traffic violation.

SMOKING BAN REVISION: Legislators rejected a bill sought by tavern owners to change the 2006 voter-approved law that prohibits smoking in restaurants, bars that serve food, supermarkets and most other public places. Tavern owners had wanted legislators to allow smoking in bars that served food as long as people under age 21 were excluded from the premises

TOLL ROADS: Two Senate-approved bills to allow privately funded toll roads and set up procedures for toll roads were killed in the Assembly Transportation Committee. Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, said residents do not want toll roads, particularly during a recession. The bill was sought by the Nevada Department of Transportation.

PENDING:

GREEN JOBS: Legislators approved Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford’s SB 152 to use $100 million in federal stimulus funds to train more than 3,000 unemployed people to carry out energy retrofit projects on low-income homes, and learn skills for future renewable energy jobs. Gibbons has not yet signed the bill.