After 120 days, the 2025 Nevada legislative session ended with a flurry of last-minute confusion and partisan tension, adjourning sine die after midnight on June 3.
Using a series of parliamentary motions, Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks) ran out the clock in the session's final 15 minutes to protest an eleventh-hour introduction of two resolutions related to the state's Legislative Commission, which approves regulations proposed by state agencies. One measure would have reduced Republicans’ clout on the panel.
As the session slipped away from Senate Democrats, there was confusion as to whether lawmakers could still take action on the resolutions after the constitutionally mandated midnight deadline because there was an open vote on the floor.
Legislative Counsel Bureau staff provided a verbal legal opinion suggesting limited business could continue, but Republican Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, who presides over the Senate, rejected it without seeing the guidance in writing.
Hansen's time-consuming filibuster may have killed the Republican governor's crime bill, which did not get a Senate vote to sign off on changes the Assembly made.
Following the adjournment, however, Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus (R-Wellington) told reporters outside the chamber that the protest had nothing to do with any other bills.
While lawmakers passed all five constitutionally required budget bills, four of Gov. Joe Lombardo's five priority proposals failed — but some of his proposals, including $38 million over the next two years for charter school teacher raises and the establishment of the Nevada Health Authority, were folded into other measures. A controversial film tax credit expansion backed by major Hollywood studios also stalled.
A spokesperson for Lombardo declined to weigh in on the Legislature's adjournment or whether he plans to call a special session to revisit his legislation.
With the session concluded, the governor turns his attention to the bills awaiting action on his desk. He has 10 days to sign or veto them before they become law by default.
Photojournalist David Calvert documented the chaotic final day for The Nevada Independent.
Therapy dog Penny inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)From left, lobbyists Billy and Nick Vassiliadis and Vince Saavedra outside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Legislation on the desk of Assembly Chief Clerk Bonnie Borda Hoffecker inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Assms. Rich DeLong (R-Reno), right, Tanya Flanagan (D-Las Vegas), left, and Selena La Rue Hatch (D-Reno), back, inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Lobbyist and former state Sen. Mo Denis inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Gov. Joe Lombardo leaves Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro's (D-Las Vegas) office inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Assembly Minority Leader Greg Hafen (R-Pahrump), left, speaks to Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)The Senate Finance Committee meets behind the bar inside the Senate chamber inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Brandon Birtcher, center, CEO of Birtcher Development, inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Gov. Joe Lombardo's Legislative Director Madeline Burak, left, and Policy Director Isabel Graf are reflected in the glass inside the Assembly chamber while watching a vote from the gallery on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)A poster board with the 120-day legislative calendar in a trash can inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Attorney General Aaron Ford watches the final hour of the 83rd legislative session from the gallery in the Assembly chamber in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, center left, (D-Las Vegas) and Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas), center right, inside the Legislature on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks) uses a series of parliamentary motions in the final minutes of the session to protest the last-minute introductions of two resolutions related to the state's Legislative Commission, which approves proposed regulations brought forth by state agencies, on the final day of the 83rd Legislature in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) watches the final minutes of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)From left, Sen. Melanie Scheible (R-Las Vegas), Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) and Minority Leader Robin Titus (R-Wellington) speak with Asher Killian, the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau chief deputy legislative counsel, after midnight on June 3, 2025, following a parliamentary protest from Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks) that ran out the clock on the final minutes of the 83rd session in Carson City. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony presides over the Senate in the final minutes of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 2, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Sens. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas), center, and Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), are accompanied by a legislative police officer to the Capitol where the lawmakers deliver their sine die message to Gov. Joe Lombardo after midnight on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 3, 2025. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)Gov. Joe Lombardo greets Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas) after the Senate adjourned sine die on the final day of the 83rd session in Carson City on June 3, 2025. Sens. Lori Rogich (R-Las Vegas) and Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas) joined Scheible in the governor's office. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
