Are Lombardo’s bills being introduced unusually late?
In today’s edition:
- How can resolutions move forward without committee votes?
- Are Lombardo’s bills tardy?
- Sharron Angle’s back
From the Capital Bureau Chief:
We’re more than two-thirds of the way through the legislative session, but there’s still a lot of bill language we’re waiting on.
Only two of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s five proposed policy bills have been formally introduced — his housing measure arrived on the 51st day of the session and his crime bill arrived on the 64th. (His education bill should be coming soon, if the Friday press conference/horn-tooting was any indication.)
Lombardo is not the only one. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro’s (D-Las Vegas) education bill is still in the drafting stage and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) has an emergency health care bill in the works.
The yet-to-be-introduced legislation brought up a question for me: Is it normal for the governor’s big-ticket legislation to arrive so late?
In 2023, all but one of Lombardo’s five bills were introduced by day 50 of the legislative session, with the earliest bill arriving on day 40.
The last Lombardo measure (suspending a gas tax and raising Commerce Tax thresholds) arrived on day 106 and died without a hearing.
In 2021, three of then-Gov. Steve Sisolak’s bills arrived by day 80, with the earliest on day 67. A fourth bill came on day 100, and the fifth measure, an effort to implement Innovation Zones (#memories), was scrapped before it even arrived.
In 2019, four of Sisolak’s bills arrived between day 93 and day 102.
The session before that in 2017, then-Gov. Brian Sandoval’s four main bills arrived by day 50.
In 2015, Sandoval’s bills were prefiled in December and read for the first time within the first week or so of session. His massive tax plan had its first hearing in March.
In short, Lombardo’s bills this session are coming later than they did in 2023 and more slowly than Sandoval bills in his second term. But they are not a massive outlier, and Sisolak policies dropped late in the process too.
So as we enter Day 86, remember — there’s a long time still between now and sine die.
As always, please send us your questions, thoughts and suggestions. You can reach me at [email protected].
What we’re reading and writing
‘Very concerned’: Nevada lawmakers fear upcoming revenue forecast will force budget cuts by Eric Neugeboren
If only the state could get money for nothing …
Indy Explains: Why hasn’t Nevada joined the 41-state nurse licensure compact? by Tabitha Mueller
This political hot potato doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
What’s in Lombardo’s education bill? Open enrollment, charter school and literacy funding by Rocio Hernandez
Even without a bill, there’s still a lot to talk about!
Why did these resolutions move forward without a committee vote?
Bills and resolutions typically move through the legislative process by receiving a hearing, a committee vote and a floor vote before moving on to the next chamber where the process repeats itself.
Curiously, three resolutions that recently passed in the Assembly skipped committee votes altogether (though one did receive a committee hearing). The three did not receive exemptions or waivers after being withdrawn from their respective committees.
Asked about it, Liz Luna, deputy executive director of the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus, said resolutions are not required to have committee hearings before getting a vote by the full Assembly.
“If the sponsor of a resolution requests a hearing, it can be granted,” Luna said. “In that case, it is referred to a policy committee for a hearing to give it a platform for discussion.”
Though the resolutions have technically moved forward without violating existing rules, transparency advocates say it has cut the public off from the process and hinders the ability to understand lawmakers’ motivations.
“The Legislature is isolated from the people enough, and the public has limited ability to participate,” attorney and open government advocate Maggie McLetchie said. “Going through the committee process at least allows for some public comment before a bill is voted on.”
Those resolutions, detailed below, also received a floor vote in the Assembly chamber last week and were sent to the Senate.
- AJR8 would amend the state Constitution to establish a business court. It received a hearing and passed on a vote of 40-2, with two Democrats in opposition.
- The resolution sponsor, Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson), told The Indy Monday that legislative leaders decide the process that a measure undergoes, and that its near-unanimous vote in the chamber indicated it would have also passed committee if it received a vote.
- The two votes in opposition came from Assms. Erica Roth (D-Reno) and Selena La Rue Hatch (D-Reno), both of whom sit on the committee where the resolution was heard. During the hearing, La Rue Hatch inquired about a provision in the resolution that would require judges to be appointed rather than elected, and Roth questioned the need for a business court when there are no specialized courts for housing issues or other matters.
- The resolution sponsor, Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson), told The Indy Monday that legislative leaders decide the process that a measure undergoes, and that its near-unanimous vote in the chamber indicated it would have also passed committee if it received a vote.
- AJR9 urges the federal government to enact legislation prohibiting agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from entering schools and places of worship when enforcing federal immigration law. It had no committee hearing and passed on a 27-15 vote, with all Republicans opposed.
- AJR10 requests the federal government release more federally managed land in Nevada for housing. It had no committee hearing and passed 36-6 with six Democrats opposed.
A fourth resolution, AJR12, which declared support for certain principles of solar energy, also did not receive a committee hearing and was referred to the Assembly chief clerk's desk. The measure did not receive a vote in the chamber and died at last week’s first house passage deadline.
Luna said the resolution sponsor decided not to move forward with the proposal.
College of Southern Nevada professor Sondra Cosgrove said moving the resolutions without a hearing hinders public comment opportunities.
“This is participatory democracy. They are not just the House of Lords going off somewhere to decide things for us,” Cosgrove said. “It does worry me a lot, that this is contributing to people being very upset about how government works and wanting change, even radical change because they are upset about things like this.”
— Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren
Keeping Tabs
🔎 Searching for answers — In a letter to Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) demanded to know what he meant when he said congressional Republicans were not going to cut “traditional Medicaid” during a floor speech at the Legislature. She asked the congressmen to define traditional Medicaid and outline who that would include and exclude.
- “Because Republicans hold such a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, you could prevent that situation from ever arising by informing Speaker Johnson that you will vote NO on any bill that cuts Medicaid or removes currently covered Nevadans from the program,” Cannizzaro wrote.
🗳️ Angle-ing for another run — Perennial GOP candidate Sharron Angle plans to run for secretary of state in 2026. Assm. Rebecca Edgeworth (R-Las Vegas) announced it last week as part of her introduction of Angle at the Legislature’s Alumni Day.
- Context: Though Angle raised her eyebrows when Edgeworth made the announcement, Angle’s campaign website notes that she launched her campaign for the top role overseeing elections in December.
🤦 Campaign season is already underway — Gov. Joe Lombardo’s political action committee (PAC), Better Nevada, targeted Sen. Julie Pazina (D-Las Vegas) in an email blast and a post on X for not hearing a nursing licensure compact bill that proponents said would be a tool to address the nursing shortage. Opponents have contended that the measure does not directly address the nursing shortage and is a means to circumvent implementing policies that would improve working conditions for nurses and attract out-of-state nurses, disrupting union activity.
- The facts: The headline of the email from the PAC claimed that Pazina “enables” the nursing shortage. Proponents of the compact, however, have noted that it is one of several tools to address nursing shortages, which have a variety of causes, including negative impressions of Nevada and limited slots in nursing programs. The Democratic caucus emphasized “the importance of tailored solutions rather than copying strategies that haven't yielded results elsewhere.”
🪦 Dead but not forgotten — Assm. Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas) has vowed to continue advancing transparency and ethics reforms in Carson City following the death of her proposed legislative transparency measure, AJR3.
- Context: Kasama told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the measure died because the bill came from her and was a priority of Gov. Joe Lombardo.
- Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) responded that Kasama was not open to working with Democrats on amending the bill.
🏠 Lombardo PAC spending big on housing ad — The Lombardo-affiliated Nevada Way PAC has spent more than $240,000 on an ad touting his housing bill as a way to lower home prices, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. The ad hit Nevada airwaves earlier this month, and the PAC’s total ad reservations for this year amount to more than $575,000.
— Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren
Looking Ahead
- Thursday, May 1, 9:30 a.m.: A panel of five economic and taxation experts from the private sector will present the economic forecast that will provide the basis for the state’s budget.
Days until:
- Second committee passage deadline: 18
- Second house passage deadline: 25
- Sine die: 35
And to get you going into the week, a few social media posts that caught our eye:
- Instagram: Fabulous. No notes.
- BSky: Northern Nevada represents.
- X: Gotta get those rules straightened out.
We’ll see you Thursday.