5.24.21 – Nevada Independent
A legislative staff members delivers copies of the bills and the daily schedule inside the Legislature on Saturday, May 22, 2021. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
Nevada lawmakers worked late into Friday to pass 175 resolutions and bills by the one of the final major deadlines of the legislative session, but not every bill made it past the finish line before the clock struck midnight.
According to a tally by the Legislative Counsel Bureau, only four bills failed to pass out and died by Friday’s deadline — largely under-the-radar measures affecting composting, rules on school suspensions and expulsions, alarm systems and special assessments by local governments.
The bills fell just short of the final legislative finish line — lawmakers are scheduled to finish their 120-day session on Monday, May 31, with legislators scheduling most of the final week to finish budget details and finish the long list of last-minute major policy bills that need to be resolved before the Legislature adjourns.
Here’s a look at the bills that failed to advance on Friday:
AB67: This bill, sponsored on behalf of the state Department of Education, would have expanded and clarified school discipline procedures, including definitions for suspension, significant suspension, expulsion and permanent expulsion, as well as updating circumstances in which those punishments could be appalled. The bill passed on a 40-0 vote in the Assembly on April 16, but was placed on the secretary’s desk in the Senate on Friday. However, lawmakers granted the bill a late exemption on Monday from the normal legislative rules.
SB57: Sponsored on behalf of Clark County, SB57 would have authorized a board of county commissioners or city government to recover any unpaid property fines or fees by treating them as a special assessment, which can be collected in the same manner as normal county taxes. Clark County officials said the measure was aimed at giving code enforcement more tools to go after abandoned property and short-term rentals; the measure passed out of the Senate on 12-9 vote on April 20, but the bill was placed on the Chief Clerk’s desk on May 19 in the Assembly and died by the deadline.
SB253: This bill from Senate Minority Leader James Settelmeyer (R-Gardnerville) would have prohibited any local government from imposing fees, fines or penalties on alarm system contractors or monitoring companies for any false alarm that cannot be attributed to the improper installation of the alarm system or other error. The bill was aimed at avoiding punishing alarm companies for false alarms — a lobbyist for ADT Security Services described it as “sending an individual’s speeding ticket to General Motors.” The bill passed the Senate on an 18-3 vote on April 20, but died in the Assembly after being placed on the chief clerk’s desk on Friday.
SB349: Sponsored by Sen. James Ohrenschall (D-Las Vegas), this bill would have authorized cities and counties to establish urban composting zones for use by the community by ordinance, including potential inclusion in a county or city’s master plan. It also would have authorized the state or a local board of health to adopt regulations on the sale of unpackaged produce at a farmers’ market. The bill passed on a 13-8 vote in the Senate on April 20, but was placed on the Chief Clerk’s desk on Friday and died on the deadline.The Nevada Independent is a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization. We are committed to transparency and disclose all our donors.
The following people or entities mentioned in this article are financial supporters of our work:James Ohrenschall – $1,000.00
Riley Snyder
Riley Snyder is a staff writer for The Nevada Independent, covering topics including state government, the Legislature and Nevada’s energy marketplace.