Senate committee approves amendment to restore current interim committee procedures, makes public-lands and sunset changes

Senate Bill 226, which revises the interim structure and certain reporting requirements for Nevadalegislative committees, was amended and approved by the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections on May 22, 2025.

Chair Orenshall, chair of the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, accepted a motion to amend and do pass the bill after staff summarized the changes.

The committeeamendment restores the current approval method for joint standing committee actions by returning to approval "by a majority of members in each house" rather than requiring approval by five members of a joint committee. The amendment also makes the public-lands subcommittee a full, independent public lands committee, revises that committeemembership and transfers to it the authority to request measures that previously rested with the joint interim standing committee on natural resources. The amendment deletes proposed language that would have moved the start date for interim committees from November 1 to September 1, leaving the current November 1 start date in place.

Pepper Sturm, committee policy analyst with Legislative Counsel Bureau Research, summarized the bill and the conceptual amendment on the work session document and noted the package aligns membership and operations of several committees, including the Sunset Committee and the Legislative Commissionsubcommittees. In reference to the amendment on committee drafting authority, Kelsey Delozier, legal counsel, said, "section 1 subsection 3 paragraph G provides that the sunset the sunset committee, may request the drafting of not more than 5 legislative measures that relate to the scope of the committee." Delozier added that the committee may request additional measures only if the Legislative Commission approves each additional request by a majority vote.

Vice Chair Daley moved to amend and do pass the bill; Majority Leader Cannizzaro seconded the motion. Senator Jeff Steinbeck said he would "vote yes and reserve my right" as he continued to discuss the bill with his caucus. The committee voted 4-0 in favor; Senator Krasner was recorded as excused.

Committee members discussed the timeline change that had been proposed in the bill. Chair Orenshall said the amendment reflected concerns raised by outreach to members, including a suggestion by Senator Krasner that the expanded interim meeting timeline could be an additional burden on committees and staff. Members noted that the Sunset Committee's ability to request legislative drafts remains capped at five except where the Legislative Commission approves otherwise; one member observed that previous work had produced many recommendations but only a smaller number of resulting bills.

No public comment was received for this item during the committeework session.

The measure now moves to the full Senate process where floor statements were assigned by committee members for SB 226.