EDITORIAL: Governor’s veto pen should get another workout

Tuesday was the deadline for bills to pass at least one house of the Legislature in order to survive the Carson City grind. While the cutoff point is largely meaningless — lawmakers routinely grant exceptions to a great many proposals — the date did provide a glimpse of battles to come and a preview of legislative priorities.

With progressive Democrats running the show in both the Assembly and Senate, there is no shortage of bad legislation. Much of it survived, unfortunately. One exception was Assembly Bill 64, sought by Attorney General Aaron Ford, which was sent to the circular file. It would have added exceptions to the state’s open meeting law and limited the time available for those wishing to speak at public meetings. Both are contrary to accountable government. Good riddance.

A number of dubious proposals moved forward, however, including Assembly Bill 388, which would impose a paid family and medical leave mandate on large and medium-sized Nevada employers. The state should be looking to ease the regulatory burden for job creators, not to keep expanding it.

Senate Bill 318 also lives on. It would ban charter schools from contracting with for-profit education management companies. Rather than burden alternative campuses with more edicts and red tape, Nevada Democrats should encourage the formation of more charter schools, given how they typically outperform their conventional counterparts and are far more accountable.

Assembly Joint Resolution 1 survived past the deadline. It would reset the taxable value of a property once it is sold, leading to higher taxes for the buyer. This is an especially odd proposal given Nevada’s affordable housing conundrum. Making it less attractive to buy existing homes will discourage market churn and, potentially, housing development.

A slew of other dubious housing bills moved forward, revealing that legislative Democrats prefer performance theater to actually taking the steps necessary to make progress on driving down housing prices. Assembly Bill 280 imposes rent control on some properties. At least four other bills burden landlords with various mandates and make it more difficult to evict deadbeat renters. These proposals will only exacerbate the region’s housing challenges by discouraging developers and landlords from entering the marketplace. To reduce housing costs, Nevada needs more housing stock, not more regulations hindering those who could provide it.

GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo in 2023 vetoed 75 bills, the most ever during a single legislative session. To continue to be a reliable backstop against Democratic overreach, he’ll need to prep for another case of writer’s cramp.