Nevada Senate to take up Sandoval’s vetoes

Week two of the 2017 Legislature kicks off with the Senate taking up the five pieces of that body’s legislation vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval in 2015.

SB99 would have repealed the provision banning sex offenders from going within 500 feet of a school or playground used by children. He said it would have placed children at greater risk from predators.

Sandoval vetoed SB161 which would have limited product defect lawsuits to manufacturers and SB296 that capped punitive damages in product defect cases. He said limiting legal remedies for those harmed by defective products doesn’t promote the interests of consumers.

He also vetoed SB183 that would have allowed more taxi and limousine companies to enter the market, citing public safety.

Finally, he vetoed SB238, a bill to let Ely residents ask voters if they wanted to dissolve their city. He said that legislation would circumvent the existing process allowing Ely residents to decide their own fate.

He vetoed two Assembly bills at the end of the 2015 Legislature as well. The Assembly voted on day one of the session to put those bills on the chief clerk’s desk without taking action on them. AB326 would have put a moratorium on classic vehicle license plates to prevent people from using them to avoid smog tests. He said the bill would hurt events like Hot August Nights. And AB472 would have barred Nevada guardsmen from getting life insurance premiums from the Patriot Relief Account and stopped them from claiming $1,000 or more a semester for textbooks. Sandoval said that would create a hardship for service members and their families.

There’s little chance of a two-thirds vote in the Senate to overturn any of the five vetoes.

On Monday, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee takes up the budgets of the Gaming Control Board and Governor’s Office of Economic Development while the Senate Finance Committee reviews the main Governor’s Office and Lt. Governor’s office budgets.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee takes up three bills designed to require reviews of the Medicaid rates paid to providers in Nevada. Human services advocates have long complained that Medicaid reimbursement rates are too low, resulting in providers refusing Medicaid patients.

Other budgets to be reviewed this week include DMV, the Judicial Branch, Public and Behavioral Health, the Public Employees Retirement System, Public Works, Wildlife and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

On Tuesday, the Senate and Assembly Committees on Natural Resources will begin reviewing water issues.

On Wednesday, the Senate Government Affairs Committee will examine the bill that would remove Storey and Douglas counties from the V&T Railroad Commission.

There’s a free flu shot clinic in the Legislative front foyer Monday beginning at 9 a.m. and a health screening fair Tuesday beginning at 7:30 a.m. Monday is also Social Work Day at the Legislature. Tuesday is the Nevada Tribes Legislative Day reception at 1 p.m. in Room 3100 as well as the Future Farmers of America breakfast.

The Tourism Day breakfast and associated events are set Wednesday.

Friday at 9 a.m. is the quarterly Juvenile Justice Commission meeting in Room 3100.