Nevada legislative building meetings cancelled through March

Nearly all public meetings scheduled in the Nevada Legislature building have been cancelled for the rest of March.

Legislative Counsel Bureau Director Brenda Erdoes said the decision was made at the recommendation of health officials who urged lawmakers to join the rest of governments, educators and athletic programs to minimize the number of events with crowds of people at them.

She said a dozen or more meetings in the building have been cancelled for now but will be rescheduled when possible. The decision, she said, was made out of an abundance of caution as reports of the virus spread in Nevada.

“We’re trying not to bring people together,” she said.

Erdoes said in the meantime, they will be considering virtual meetings, teleconferences and other such technological alternatives to keep large groups of people from congregating in a room in the Legislative building.

The initial list of cancellations on the legislative website rose from eight to about a dozen late Friday.

That includes two meetings that were set on Friday — the Commission on License Plates and the Committee on Energy.

The wildfire study panel set for St. Patrick’s Day next week has been cancelled along with the health care committee Wednesday and Friday’s meeting of the interim study of driving under the influence of marijuana.

The Interim Study of the cost of prescription drugs set March 26 and Committee on Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice were also cancelled.

Other than that, meetings scheduled for the last week of March were still listed on the legislative website. Erdoes said the situation will be reviewed toward the end of March to see if meetings can safely resume.