Poor priorities

There's no such thing as a slam-dunk in the Nevada Legislature. Even if a bill has support among both the electorate and members of the major political parties, and holds the prospect of saving taxpayers money, there's no guarantee the measure will ever make it to the governor's desk for his signature.

As proof that Carson City is preoccupied with funny business, as opposed to the public's business, we offer Senate Bill 149 and Senate Bill 415.

SB149 would have moved all of Clark County's municipal elections from the spring of odd-numbered years onto the statewide ballot in the fall of even-numbered years. Voter turnout in Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas has been abysmal in recent years, and Tuesday's general election might bring out fewer than 10 percent of registered voters.

With barely a few thousand citizens deciding who sits on their City Councils, policies that affect hundreds of thousands of people are being established without a clear mandate from the governed. These cities are wasting $1.5 million every two years to have sample ballots and voting machines go ignored. It makes perfect sense to consolidate local municipal elections with votes for state and federal offices, as the cities of Reno and Sparks do.

SB149 won unanimous passage in the upper house -- 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats in agreement -- and was left to die in the Assembly elections committee.

SB415 would prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving the state's taxpayer-subsidized Millennium Scholarship. Taxpayers already provide a primary and secondary education to the state's youngest illegal immigrants, and they don't think they should continue to be on the hook for tuition to the state's public colleges and universities. In a Review-Journal poll of registered voters released earlier this month, 72 percent of respondents said illegals should not receive the scholarships, which are awarded to Nevada high school graduates who have at least a 3.25 grade-point average.

SB415 passed the Senate 17-4, then died of neglect in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

What pressing legislation prevented the lower house from paying the slightest bit of attention to these bills? How about Senate Bill 329? The bill allows police, firefighters and animal control officers to "use any force that is reasonable and necessary" to remove pets from locked vehicles if the animals are believed to be suffering from extreme heat or cold. Police can then charge the pet owner with a misdemeanor.

Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, made sure this proposal got a vote -- it passed 36-6.

The Legislature has only 120 days every two years to fulfill its constitutional obligations. Such a tight schedule demands common sense, organization and prioritization -- three qualities lacking in the Nevada Assembly.