Nevada Senate refers dozens of bills to committees, advances many Assembly bills and adopts two education amendments

The Nevada Senate on the floor advanced a broad package of legislation, referring numerous Senate bills to committees and ordering many Assembly bills to the general file. The chamber also adopted two amendments to Assembly bills on second reading and received notice that standing rules are likely to be suspended next week to speed final action.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, recognizing antimicrobial resistance as a public health crisis, was referred to the Committee on Commerce and Labor after a motion by Senator Orenshall. Majority Leader Senator Cannizzaro gave formal notice under Senate standing rule 91 that she will next Monday move to suspend various standing rules to allow multiple floor agendas, immediate voting on measures reported out of committee, and other procedural accelerations; she said the motions will not alter the constitutional requirement that bills be read three times on three separate days.

Senator Cannizzaro moved to take Assembly Bill 39 from its place on the general file and place it on the secretary's desk for further consideration; the motion carried. She also moved to place the bills on general file on the calendar for the next legislative day, a motion that likewise carried.

On second reading, the Senate ordered a long list of Assembly bills to the general file, including AB 17 (writs of garnishment), AB 18 (electronic filing provisions), AB 21 (unemployment compensation changes), AB 30 (incompetency provisions), AB 50 (mass casualty victim provisions), AB 97 (public safety provisions), AB 116 (food delivery platform regulation), AB 142 (industrial insurance), AB 150 (criminal justice provisions), AB 153 (education of incarcerated persons), AB 196 (psychology licensing), AB 258 (brokerage provisions), AB 280 (housing provisions), AB 289 (education amendment adopted; financial literacy content), AB 305 (limits on provider charges for certain forms), AB 329 (victim-related revisions), AB 394 (education emergency response plans; amendment adopted), AB 407 (repair provisions), AB 498, AB 510, AB 518 and other measures listed on the second-reading calendar.

The chamber also introduced and referred a series of Senate bills to committees. Examples from the floor record include: - Senate Bill 466 (revises provisions governing the authority of the State Department of Agriculture relating to food and water) — referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services. - Senate Bill 467 (provisions relating to cybersecurity) — referred to Government Affairs. - Senate Bill 468 (appropriation to the State Public Charter School Authority for charter pupil transportation) — referred to Finance. - A large package of finance-related bills (Senate Bills 469–495, including appropriations for education, corrections, judicial information systems, parks, public safety technology, and other subjects) was introduced by the Committee on Finance and each was moved to the Committee on Finance for referral and consideration.

On amendments: the Senate adopted Amendment 556 to Assembly Bill 289, which adds that if the Board of Regents establishes a course in financial literacy, that course must include content on preparing taxes, financial planning and other items of financial literacy. The Senate also adopted Amendment 558 to Assembly Bill 394 and recorded Senators Titus, Buck and Rogich as joint sponsors to that bill.

Procedural votes to refer bills and order bills to the general file were typically agreed to "seeing none, so ordered," with no recorded roll-call objections reported on the floor for those motions.

Why it matters: The referrals and orders to the general file move measures forward in the legislative process toward committee hearings and eventual floor consideration; the adopted amendments change the content of specific education-related bills. Majority Leader Cannizzaro's notice that rules will be suspended next week signals rapid floor activity in the final days of the session.