Bills live and die on deadline day in Carson City

By Anjeanette Damon

Saturday, May 18, 2013 | 2 a.m.

The legislative grim reaper struck again Friday as the Nevada Legislature hit yet another milestone on the 120-day march to its finish.

The so-called second house committee passage deadline arrived, killing bills that failed to make it out of policy committees in the Senate and Assembly.

The deadline, of course, isn’t absolute.

Bills can always be resurrected.

But time is running short, with the final day of the session June 3.

Here’s a look at bills that made it out of committee to live another day in Carson City.

• Barroom sports betting could come to an end

  The centerpiece of the gaming industry’s legislative agenda passed the deadline hurdle this week.

  Senate Bill 416, which would prohibit sports betting on kiosks in bars and slot parlors, made it out of the Senate Finance Committee.

  The bill also imposes new requirements on so-called slot arcades such as Dotty’s.

  The Nevada Resort Association, which is pushing the bill, argued lawmakers must step in to protect large casino resorts from kiosks and slot parlors encroaching on their territory.

  The bill must still be voted on by the Senate before it would head to the Assembly for a lightning round of hearings in the final days of the Legislature.

• Tahoe’s compact survives

  Gov. Brian Sandoval and California Gov. Jerry Brown reached a critical agreement to head off Nevada’s departure from the decades old bi-state compact to protect the environment surrounding Lake Tahoe.

  Two years ago, the Nevada Legislature passed a law withdrawing Nevada from the compact if changes weren’t made to ease development restrictions around the lake. This year, lawmakers apparently thought better of it, and Senate Bill 229 to repeal that law has moved quickly through the process.

  In an effort to avoid dissolving the compact, legislative leaders from both states agreed to make changes easing development restrictions and to make it more difficult to sue to stop the regional plan governing development in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

  The bill made it out of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee and awaits a vote on the Assembly floor.

• Suspect DNA collection

  A bill that would expand law enforcement’s ability to collect DNA samples from crime suspects survived the deadline.

  Senate Bill 243, which would allow police to collect DNA at the time of a felony arrest, was passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. If the measure is passed by the Assembly, it would head to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s desk.

  The bill is dubbed Brianna’s Law, after a Reno woman who was killed by a rapist whose DNA was not on file.

  Civil rights advocates oppose the measure, arguing it would disproportionately affect minorities.

• Driver's cards for undocumented immigrants

  A bill that would create a special driver’s privilege card for immigrants who arrived in the country illegally was freed from committee.

  The Senate Finance Committee passed Senate Bill 303 this week.

  The measure now heads to the Senate floor for a vote before it makes its way to the Assembly.

• Gay marriage ban repeal moves forward

  Senate Joint Resolution 13,which would repeal Nevada's constitutional gay marriage ban and replace it with a measure legalizing same sex unions, passed cleanly out of the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections committee.

  The measure, which passed the Senate on a mostly party-line vote, now heads to the Assembly floor, where the Democratic majority is expected to pass it easily.

  Because it is a constitutional amendment, the measure would have to pass the Legislature again in 2015 before going to voters in 2016.

• Mining tax protections could be yanked

  Senate Joint Resolution 15, which would repeal the mining industry's tax protections from the state constitution, is moving forward.

  The Assembly Taxation Committee easily passed the measure, which now heads to the Assembly floor for a vote. The Senate approved it in a 17-4 vote.

  The measure would go before voters on the 2014 ballot.

  Proponents of the measure say it is necessary for the state to increase taxes on the industry that has been booming as the rest of the state's economy suffers.