Mike Hoffman dumps dead bills and other trash into a trash can in the Assembly Chambers at the Nevada State Legislature on Friday. Brad Horn/ Nevada Appeal
Hundreds of bills, on subjects ranging from taxes to tailpipe emissions, failed to survive a Friday the 13th deadline for approval by Senate and Assembly committees in the Nevada Legislature.
Under the lawmakers' rules, Friday was the last day for all Assembly committees to vote on any Assembly measures that have not yet been acted upon, and for all Senate panels to decide on any of their Senate bills in the same status.
Measures that were left in the committees by the end of the day were dead for the session - unless their sponsors were able to get exemptions or can get their concepts resurrected in the form of an amendment to another bill that survived the deadline. Also, some of the dead measures were duplicates of other proposals that remained alive.
More than 270 measures died at the same point in the 2005 session - a fourth of all bills introduced that year. This year, the same scenario was expected. Staffers said an exact count wouldn't be available until Monday.
In advance of the Friday deadline, committees held marathon work sessions to act on bills they already had heard. They also completed hearings on measures that had not been fully debated until the last day and decided on those measures.
Among dead Assembly bills were:
-AB357 which would have prohibited employers from exercising "any control over the collection, counting or distribution of any tips" and requiring an employee to participate in tip-pooling.
-AB159, which would have limited protests near funerals and memorial services.
-AB481, which would have adopted California's tailpipe emission standards for vehicles, along with tax incentives for those who purchase fuel-efficient vehicles.
-AB290, which would have removed mortgage brokers from the definition of "financial institution" and therefore exempt them from the 2 percent excise tax charged on banks.
-AB384, which would have required the state give its electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote, instead of the candidate chosen by state voters. This week, Maryland became the first state in the nation to approve such a measure.
-AB245, which would have required Cabinet-level approval of federal protests to certain water applications.
-AB325, which would have required the Southern Nevada Water Authority to make monthly reports on its investigation into water rights transfers.
-AB191, which would have prohibited carrying a concealed firearm in a courthouse without special permission from the chief judge.
Among dead Senate measures were:
-SB49, which would have revoked Nevada's law requiring motorcycle riders to wear helmets; and SB207, which would have required kids under 18 to wear bicycle helmets.
-SB54, an insurance industry-backed bill that would have forced injured workers to submit to a post-injury drug test.
-SB286, which would have allowed Nevada teachers who had received training to carry firearms to school.
-SB13, which would have stopped local governments from regulating sidewalk signs based on their content or viewpoint.
-SB82, which would have added Nevada to a list of 30 states with laws banning price gouging.
-SB98, which would have abolished the state Pharmacy Board.
-SB114, which would have allowed power plants that burn tires to make electricity to be considered renewable energy
-SB360, SB413 and SB414, which dealt with regulation of practitioners of alternative medicine. A related bill, SB432, was gutted and turned into an interim study on the topic.
-SB362, which would have changed rules governing common-interest communities.
-SB204, which would have expanded the rights of grandparents to go to court in efforts to see grandchildren.