6 legislative committees to watch in 2015

As all observers of the legislative process know, the real work of the Legislature gets done in the various committees, where lawmakers break into smaller groups to tear apart legislation, debate it, amend it, and either pass or kill it.

The 120-day legislative calendar, in fact, is built around committee deadlines, and the rules force legislation through the committee process: Either the bills keep flowing, or they die.

That makes committees (and their chairmen and chairwomen) especially powerful figures in the Legislature. If a committee chair doesn’t want a bill reported back to the floor of his or her respective house, it’s not going anywhere. And many a frustrated lawmaker has seen a bill make it nearly all the way through the process only to die in a final committee.

As we continue our countdown to the first day of the 2015 session Monday, here’s a look at a few of the most important legislative committees, and who will helm them.

Senate Finance: This is the “money committee” in the upper house. If it has to do with the budget, it will come through this committee. All state spending will be broken down to the individual agency and department and program level and examined. If a policy bill gets a fiscal note attached, it’s headed to this committee. In the 2015 session, state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, will be the man who oversees the spending.

Senate Revenue and Economic Development: Where the Finance Committee looks at spending money, this committee looks at raising tax dollars. It’s a sign of its importance that Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, has assigned himself the job of chairman. Roberson has committed to helping get Gov. Brian Sandoval’s agenda through the Legislature, and that includes a proposed business license fee that rises as a business’s income increases. But he’s also committed to hearing other plans, and minority Democrats are planning to oblige with some alternative tax ideas. (Look for state Sens. Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and Patricia Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, to be the point people on Democratic tax ideas.)

Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy: This is the business committee, dealing with everything from electric utilities to insurance, from manufacturing to real estate. The broad jurisdiction is a challenge for members, and for this committee’s leader. In the 2015 session, Minden Republican state Sen. James Settelmeyer will lead for the first time.

Assembly Ways & Means: This is the Assembly’s version of the Senate Finance Committee, responsible for reviewing the state’s budget in detail and adjusting spending levels for various programs. Membership is usually reserved for lawmakers with some experience, since it has the broadest jurisdiction and most influence of any committee, and requires a good working knowledge of the entirety of state government. It will be led by Assemblyman Paul Anderson, R-Las Vegas, who also holds the No. 2 leadership post in the Assembly.

Assembly Commerce & Labor: Like its opposite number in the Senate, this committee oversees all bills designed to regulate business in the state. Its members get plenty of face time with lobbyists for industries big and small, and it hears some of the most complex and far reaching legislation that will be considered in the building. Assemblyman Randy Kirner, R-Reno, will serve as chairman in the 2015 session.

Assembly Taxation: This is the committee that will consider all bills to raise taxes, a subject of special important in the Assembly, where a group of about 12 conservative Republicans appear ready to vote down any bill that results in a net increase in revenue. The governor’s tax plan must pass through this committee, as will any alternative ideas. It promises to be one of the most interesting committees to watch this session, and it will be headed (in a somewhat unusual move) by freshman Derek Armstrong, R-Henderson, who is a tax attorney in his full-time job.

And a couple more to watch: The Legislative Operations and Elections committees (led in the Senate by freshman state Sen. Patricia Farley, R-Las Vegas, and in the Assembly by Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson) will handle bills including campaign reporting overhauls and voter ID requirements. And the Judiciary committees (led in the upper house by state Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, and in the lower house by Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks) will handle all tort reform bills, which are sure to be controversial.

One last thing: There’s such a thing as “the committee of the whole,” which is when the entire state Senate or the entire Assembly meets as a whole to consider legislation. Assembly members usually remain in their chambers when they do this, although senators often recess to their largest hearing room, No. 1214 on the first floor, for such sessions. While constituted as the committee of the whole, the usual rules for a floor session are replaced by less formal committee rules.