Lawmakers get 212 new bills in under the wire

The Senate and Assembly pounded through their first deadline crunch Monday with senators holding three separate floor sessions and the Assembly two.

It was the deadline for individual lawmakers to introduce legislation, and when it was over, 212 bills had been added to the workload for the rest of the 2009 Legislature.

Senators introduced a total of 85 bills. That brings the total number of bills in the Senate to 330. There were also six resolutions in the Senate.

In the Assembly, 127 bills were introduced, bringing the total in that house to 470 bills in committee. In addition, 10 resolutions were introduced there.

Altogether, 800 bills have been introduced and the next deadline " for committee sponsored bills to be introduced " is expected to add 100 or more to the stack. That deadline is next Monday.

Now the committees in both houses have to get to work scheduling hearings on all those measures. Those hearings must be completed by April 10, the deadline for committee action in the house where each piece of legislation originated.

The measures introduced Monday ranged across the spectrum of issues and interests from renewable energy to state worker benefits and retirement changes, education reform, health care for the poor, new criminal penalties and election reform.

Many of them, such as the proposed constitutional amendment to permit lotteries in Nevada, are familiar, having been introduced several times in previous sessions.

Leadership in both houses thanked their staffs for what was a 12 hour day for most in the building.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.