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Senate Finance approves standing rules, sets hearing schedule and staff roles
Summary
The Nevada Senate Finance Committee approved proposed standing rules at its first 2025 session meeting, established daily attendance expectations and reviewed a proposed schedule for which of the governor’s budget accounts will get full hearings versus staff closings.
Senator Marilyn Dondero Loop, chair of the Nevada Senate Finance Committee, opened the first committee meeting of the 2025 legislative session and the committee approved proposed standing rules by voice vote.
The rules set attendance and scheduling expectations that members and staff said are intended to help manage an unusually heavy workload. Chair Dondero Loop told the committee, “you can be removed if you do not attend meetings on a regular basis,” and said committee and subcommittee meetings will start at 8 a.m. on weekdays; the chair also said the panel will meet some evenings and Saturdays later in the session.
The standing-rules package includes a change to video-conference logistics: because a dedicated hearings room (Building 17) is now available in Las Vegas, the rules remove the prior requirement to request a Las Vegas room in advance for a videoconference. Wayne Thorley, Senate fiscal analyst with the Legislative Counsel Bureau fiscal analysis division, said the division also published a short “fiscal brief” summarizing the governor’s executive budget and emphasized it is intended to be a quick reference for members: “Now this is something you can slip into your, your purse, your briefcase, or carry it around with you,” Thorley said.
The committee packet identified the workload ahead: the governor’s recommended budget contains 485 budget accounts, 4 of which have no recommended funding; fiscal staff said 481 accounts include recommended funding. Thorley told members fiscal staff proposes that 221 of those accounts be closed by staff (no agency hearing) and that 260 receive a budget hearing. The packet also lists nine new budget accounts in the governor’s recommendation, including the Nevada Employees Savings Trust administration account (budget account 11O2).
The rules were moved by Senator Rochelle Wynne and seconded by Senator Jeff Stone. The chair called for the question and the committee approved the rules by voice vote.
Senator Nicole Cannizzaro cautioned colleagues about time and resources, saying, “we have a very limited amount of time,” and asked members to prioritize requests for additional hearings. Thorley said committee members who want a staff-closed account to be heard should send those requests to the chair by Friday for her consideration.
Thorley also reviewed subcommittee arrangements: the packet lists which agencies and budget accounts will appear before each of the joint subcommittees; subcommittee recommendations will be forwarded to the full committee for final action. Chair Dondero Loop closed the meeting by reminding members that the committee will convene again at 8 a.m. tomorrow in Room 4100 for a joint meeting with the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
Details for follow-up: fiscal staff said the fiscal brief will be posted online and printed copies will be made available to the public, and committee staff asked members to route detailed budget questions through the senate fiscal analyst office so staff can coordinate responses.
