In a few days, hundreds of bills are expected to reach Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk. Their fate rests at the tip of his pen.

The Republican governor is the sole arbiter of which bills get his signature and what he vetoes, and he exercised that rejection power a record-breaking 75 times two years ago. But he’s often influenced by the advice and insights of his seven-member policy team.

Unlike many others involved in the legislative process, these state workers largely stay out of the public eye — working from the annex, a circular office connected to the state Capitol building — as they collaborate with agency officials, lawmakers and lobbyists to provide the governor the fullest picture possible on legislation headed to his desk.

To learn more about the team and their roles in the governor’s policy decisions, The Nevada Independent interviewed the group last month.

The seven members — all of whom are younger than 40 — come from a variety of backgrounds, including working for past governors and state or federal lawmakers.

The policy team members acknowledge politics can sometimes play a role in Lombardo’s decisions, and many of his appointees are aligned with his party, but they emphasized that their job is not about ideology. A “No Politics” sign hangs above the entry to Policy Director Isabel Graf’s office, and team members said they view their role as focused on the policy implications — not the political fallout.

Some have worked under a governor of a different party. Madeline Burak, who is Lombardo’s legislative director, was previously the director of community outreach for former Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat. Tim Robb, the governor’s homeland security adviser, also held multiple roles under Sisolak, including helping oversee the administration’s pandemic response and directing the governor’s cabinet.

“I wouldn't say that any of us work in politics,” Robb said. “We work for the state of Nevada, so we're here to do the good work on behalf of the people, and we're all honored to do it.”

In office, Lombardo’s legislative agenda largely avoided many culture war issues (unlike other Republican governors, he must work with a Democratic-controlled Legislature). But ahead of a crucial re-election bid next year in a state that President Donald Trump won by 3 percent, Lombardo has embraced the president on anything from federal lands to immigration.

Some of of his staff have also worked for influential industry leaders and members of Congress, including former Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Dean Heller (R-NV). Lindsey Miller, Lombardo’s health policy adviser, most recently served as legislative director for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) but said she prefers state policy, noting the much lower number of bills that members of Congress pass relative to state legislators.

“You do not have to pass a bill [in Congress],” Miller said. “When you're here, the governor is weighing every single decision.”

Inside the Capitol

Each member of the policy team serves as a liaison between the governor’s office and their assigned agencies.

They meet weekly with agency officials (in and out of the legislative session) to gain a sense of whether certain legislation would be feasible and if there are any operational concerns that the agency has, or to assist with bills proposed by the agencies themselves.

The work involves “trying to put together — as it relates to the Legislature — what those bills mean in the context of other conversations that I've had with stakeholders, with agencies,” Miller said.

The team is also involved in drafting Lombardo’s five priority policy bills, meeting with interested parties to create proposals that align with the governor’s vision.

For example, conversations about Lombardo’s public safety bill began last summer, said Dylan Tedford, the office’s deputy general counsel who serves as a liaison to several criminal justice-related agencies. The bill (SB457), as introduced, would crack down on repeat offenders and fentanyl possession and lowers the dollar threshold at which a theft is considered a felony.

“To make such a comprehensive bill that touches so many different subjects, it took a ton of stakeholder input and meetings … to get to a final product that we could present,” Tedford said.

Top of mind when crafting these bills, particularly this legislative session and in an uncertain economy, is the potential fiscal effect, policy team members said. But this often does not come into play until later in the process because the bill language must be finalized before a full sense of the financial implications is realized, Tedford added.

Of lesser importance to the policy team is the amendment process, as Lombardo typically does not publicly weigh in on bills until they have passed the Legislature and the measures are in their final form (with some notable exceptions).

Still, as the session wraps up and bills start making their way to Lombardo’s desk, the team begins to draft summaries of legislation in advance of briefing the governor on the proposal. Lombardo has five days to veto a bill while the Legislature is still in session, excluding Sundays, and 10 days when it is not in session.

“It's taking all of that information that was provided, distilling it into a relatively short consumable document, and then sitting down at a table and discussing it,” Tedford said.

A bill briefing includes the entire team and revolves around the progression of the bill, its effect on agencies and feedback from agency leaders and other key interested parties. Lombardo also asks the team for their personal recommendations and input.

“That's a critical part of the process when we get to the end — is having that dialogue,” Burak said.

There’s constant dialogue among members of the policy team, which is likely to only accelerate in the final days of the session. 

“​​We all sit in this room and kind of yell at each other,” Miller said. “And it's like, ‘This is what this person's thinking, this is what I'm thinking, this is what I'm hearing.’ So collaboration is really, really key.”

Isabella Aldrete contributed reporting.