Tuesday deadline looms at Legislature

The deadline that will define the remaining non-budgetary issues for lawmakers to deal with this session hits Tuesday.

By the close of business Tuesday, all bills without an exemption must clear the house where they were introduced.

As of Saturday, the Assembly had 60 bills on General File for Monday's floor session. The Senate, which pounded through a good share of its general file on Friday following the Committee of the Whole presentations on higher education, was down to about 30 bills on general file and 13 needing amendments on second reading.

All of those bills must be processed by the Tuesday deadline. Those that don't make it are dead unless another vehicle is found by advocates to resurrect them.

Tuesday's deadline, in combination with the deadline for committee passage in the house of origin 10 days ago, generally reduce the total number of bills by more than 300. The committee deadline this year killed off 188 Assembly and 125 Senate bills - a total of 313 measures out of the 1,065 introduced this far.

Of the remainder, 161 bills have an exemption from this deadline - many because they impact the budget.

That leaves 591 measures which, if they haven't already, must clear the house of origin in the next two days.

When that process is complete, lawmakers, lobbyists and activists will generally know what the remaining policy issues before the 2011 Legislature are.

Sen. Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, told the Senate late Friday to be prepared for multiple and lengthy floor sessions Monday and Tuesday to beat the deadline.

Among the Senate bills are a package of measures designed to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Senate Bill 368 would apply to housing, SB331 would deal with public accommodation such as hotels, and SB180 would enhance penalties for crimes motivated by the victim's gender identity.

Also in the Senate is SB140, which would bar the use of cell phones or other handheld wireless devices while driving. It contains an exception for emergencies.

SB315 would provide an alternative route to licensure as a teacher for those with training in a profession.

A key piece of legislation before the Assembly on Monday is Assembly Bill 545, a lengthy and arguably boring bill that must pass unless lawmakers want to apply several hundred statutory provisions and requirements to, primarily, Washoe County. Current law applies numerous statutes only to Clark County, getting around Nevada's constitutional ban on "special legislation" for a single jurisdiction by applying those rules to "counties over 400,000 population.

But Washoe County passed the 400,000 mark this census, meaning all those added restrictions, rules and statutes would now apply in the county. AB545 raises that population threshold to 700,000.

There also are population tiers below that which apply to smaller counties - some of which also have outgrown their current classification.

Other measures in the Assembly include AB128 to ban smoking anywhere on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education. At the same time, the Senate is considering SB231 which would allow concealed weapons on Nevada's university campuses.

AB6, the first measure on Monday's Assembly agenda, recognizes that some victims of sex trafficking are not voluntary. The measure would allow those individuals who are caught and convicted of prostitution when they were forced into that crime to clear their names and have the case vacated.

Also on general file is AB37, designed to give state agencies flexibility in their business hours. It removes the requirement that all state officers, departments, boards and agencies be open 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday except holidays. Agencies not following that schedule would have to post their hours for the public.

Also in recognition of the impact of term limits, the Assembly is expected to approve AB260 requiring newly elected lawmakers to attend training before the start of their first legislative session.

On Wednesday, Senate Natural Resources takes up three resolutions: SCR1 expresses support for the Pine Forest Wilderness Study Working Group; SCR2 directs state agencies to investigate whether Nevada could possibly receive compensation from the federal government for environmental damage caused by military or nuclear testing activities; and ARJ5 urges the federal government to discuss mitigation for water contamination cause by nuclear testing.

Only one committee was scheduled as yet for Friday. Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy will discuss bills involving utilities and representation of injured workers in industrial insurance claims proceedings.

• The Associated Press contributed to this report. i