Maybe they are your father’s Republicans

CARSON CITY

After Republicans took over both houses of the Nevada Legislature, some feared the statehouse would quickly come to resemble the worst of political cliches.

Restrictions on abortion. Attacks on unions and labor-friendly laws. Restrictions on lawsuits against businesses. Sagebrush Rebellion-like laws denying federal ownership or control of public lands in Nevada. Guns, guns and more guns.

Thank God that didn’t happen!

Oh, wait. It did. But it’s happened primarily in the Assembly, where an obstreperous Republican caucus is finally getting to enjoy the privileges of leadership after 30 long years in the minority.

Meanwhile, in the state Senate, where Republicans are in the majority for the first time since 2007, an entirely different breed of Republican is in charge. They’re more serious, more open to compromise and less radical than their brethren down the long hallway of the Legislative Building. And while there are still plenty of arguments over legitimate policy differences, things are getting done.

In the Assembly, a bill requiring parental notification for abortions was introduced by Speaker John Hambrick, R-Las Vegas, who later agreed to submit the issue to an interim study, the legislative equivalent of punting. But that bill was resurrected in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard this morning.

The state Senate, meanwhile, has debated a bill seeking to ban controversial “conversion therapies” that seek to “cure” minors who are gay.

In the Assembly, a bill that essentially tried to seize control of federal lands was labeled unconstitutional by the Legislature’s chief lawyer. It was whittled down to a meaningless measure that allows county sheriffs to negotiate agreements with federal officials to enforce laws on federal land, if those federal agencies stipulate that the sheriff is the primary law enforcement authority in the county.

State senators, in stark contrast, have essentially stipulated to federal ownership of most of Nevada’s lands and are asking via resolution that Congress turn over 7.2 million acres for development and management by state or local authorities.

In the Assembly, several members of the Republican caucus have taken oaths never to vote for a net increase in taxes, and one idea for a revenue package would build a budget on the backs of public employees. (There are some notable exceptions: Taxation Committee Chairman Derek Armstrong, R-Henderson, and Majority Leader Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, have proposed a bill to raise taxes to better fund schools.)

In the state Senate, Republicans have led the charge to raise taxes through a proposal from Gov. Brian Sandoval. They’ve approved a bill even without the support of skeptical Democrats, who are biding their time while looking at other tax options.

In the Assembly, lawmakers passed a bill along near-party lines to allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses and at schools, child care facilities and the unsecured areas of airports. But over in the state Senate, a bill related to justifiable homicide was improved measurably after Republicans and Democrats came together to make tweaks.

That’s not to say things are perfect in the Senate: A debate over a bill that makes changes to how the minimum wage is calculated — and that would raise the minimum wage for some workers — ended in frustration for Democrats after late amendments were introduced in a committee and debate was truncated on the Senate floor. And Democrats raised questions over a much-needed, long-overdue Republican bill that bans lobbyist gifts to lawmakers and requires more frequent campaign finance reporting during election cycles, although the measure ultimately passed unanimously.

And that’s also not to say that lawmakers in both houses can’t work together for the common good (they passed a school construction bond bill so new campuses could open in 2017) or that Republicans in both houses don’t embrace similar ideas (a construction defect bill and a ban on prevailing wages for school construction projects).

But when it comes to political cliches, more often than not, several members of one chamber of the Legislature confirm them, while members in the other chamber try hard to confound them.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.