EDITORIAL: Legislature must set priorities

The Nevada Legislature hasn’t adequately addressed big issues in recent sessions because lawmakers have insisted on burying themselves under small stuff.

Lawmakers begin each regular session knowing they have only 120 days every other year to complete the people’s business. Their major task is passing the state’s two-year budget. Voters enshrined the tight calendar in the Nevada Constitution in 1998 for a reason: They wanted to limit the Legislature’s ability to pass all kinds of intrusive, unnecessary bills.

But the flood of bill draft requests from lawmakers never slowed. Every session, around 1,000 bills are introduced. The list of bill draft requests for the 2015 Legislature already has 555 proposals, a number that will continue to grow over the next three months. Some of the requests address weighty matters of urgent public interest. But one seeks recognition of Cinco de Mayo Day, another designates Picon Punch as the state drink, and on and on.

It’s bad enough that lawmakers and agencies ask for so many bills, but what’s worse is the fact that leaders indulge so many of the requests with hearings and votes.

The past three regular sessions, Democrats controlled both chambers of the Legislature. On Tuesday, voters handed Republicans the majority in both the state Senate and the Assembly, providing GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval an opportunity to pass a bold reform agenda next year. But the Legislature’s new Republican leaders won’t be able to accomplish much if they prioritize as poorly as their predecessors.

If the GOP has bold policy goals for 2015, they’ll have to spend much less time on minor legislation. Education reform, tax reform and mental health care improvements are important enough to consume most of the session. Throw in pension, collective bargaining, construction defect and prevailing wage reform and the 120-day session is full.

Yes, ignoring special-interest legislation leads to angry special interests. But the 2015 session promised to be consequential well before Tuesday’s Republican wave swept over the state. Next year is about everyone’s interests. It’s about changing the trajectory of the state. And lawmakers can’t make that happen if they embrace distraction.