For lawmakers and special interests, some bills are like zombies in Nevada Legislature

By Kyle Roerink

Saturday, April 11, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Love them or hate them. Some bills won't die this session.

Friday marked a significant hurdle in the Legislature. Any bill that hasn't passed out of a committee of origin goes to the gallows of the 2015 session, taking to the chopping block hundreds of proposed laws. (There were more than 1,000 bills at play in the beginning of the session.) Some call it graveyard day and others call it the cutoff calendar. Some proposals could come back to life with an amendment into another bill. But regardless of the grisly implications and potential reincarnations, there are plenty of proposals that still live.

There's been no shortage of incendiary debates on legislation. And some proposals resemble a soulless, unresponsive corpse on a mission to terrify. For Democrats, out of power in the Legislature for the first time in 30 years, it's unfamiliar territory. For the GOP, the session marks a day when they are in control of legislative lifespans.

Many proposals met their makers before the Friday deadline. But others persist, moving closer and closer to the governor's desk.

Here are the bills that many in the Legislature want to see buried.

Governor's tax plan

The majority of special interests championed GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval's push to raise $438 million per year for education via an increased business license tax. But the proposal has received pushback from the no-new-tax bloc in the Assembly and special interests like the registered agents, retail, trucking and the chamber of commerce. It passed out of the Senate but has a major roadblock in the Assembly. Republicans and Democrats have proposed alternatives. But with strong support from Republicans leadership in both chambers, don't expect this bill to die easily.

Uber

Taxicab drivers have a target on this bill. They've protested and testified. But the bill lives on. With the spread of ride-share services nationwide, it appears lawmakers are softening to the idea of using a smartphone app to hail a ride. Uber operated in Nevada for a month late last year. But a court ordered the company to stop, citing legal concerns that taxicab drivers say help the company skirt state laws. Uber has a strong lobbying presence in Carson City. It's not going anywhere soon.

Union armageddon

There's a litany of bills the unions are watching. And they are mostly watching in disgust. For the GOP, the bills are a long time coming. A handful of the bills would prohibit some local employees from unionizing, remove longstanding arbitration standards used by unions and government officials and eliminate some raises to union members. They would also prevent government from deducting union dues from paychecks, prohibit employees from receiving paid time off for union work, switch the government employee pension program to a 401(k) hybrid and reshape the laws governing overtime pay for low-wage workers. Unions are protesting, canvassing and testifying in opposition of the proposals. But their efforts are doing little from keeping Republicans from passing the legislation.

The Bundy bill

Cliven Bundy is the hero of the far-right, limited federal government sect in the country. He's the whipping boy of the left. Either way, his ideals have found a home in the Legislature. Known as the Bundy bill, AB 408 would give Nevada control of nonmilitary federal lands. Legislative legal counsel quickly deemed it unconstitutional, and lawmakers gutted the bill of its true intent — taking back land from the federal government. Despite its neutered state, the bill still lives on. The rewritten bill clarifies the commonly accepted idea that sheriffs are the primary law enforcement officers in unincorporated areas of counties.

Transgender bathroom

LGBTQ advocates are furious about a bill that would require transgender students to use restrooms correlating with their birth gender. The bill passed out of committee on Friday and its sponsor, Republican Assemblywoman Vicki Dooling. Dooling said schools would need to provide separate facilities for transgender students and the bill would extend student privacy protections.