Nevada Legislature: Wineries bill among list of prefiled bills

CARSON CITY — Nearly 200 bills requested by lawmakers and others for consideration in the 2015 legislative session are now available for review on the Legislature’s website, including a measure that would allow commercial wineries to operate in Clark and Washoe counties.

The measures introduced by individual lawmakers and legislative committees have been prefiled so they can be introduced quickly when the session begins Feb. 2.

The winery bill comes from Assemblyman Pat Hickey, R-Reno, who wants to remove a provision in state law prohibiting the state’s two largest counties from selling wine that is made “on premise.”

“Many Western states have had tremendous economic success growing grapes and making wine, and I think it’s time Nevada joined this growing industry to help diversify our economy in Washoe and throughout the state,” Hickey said in a statement issued in July when he announced his intention to introduce the bill.

Other measures that can now be read in their entirety include Senate Joint Resolution 1, which asks Congress to pass a law transferring some of Nevada’s federally controlled lands to state control, and Senate Joint Resolution 3, which would amend the state constitution to have candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run as a team and be elected jointly.

Sen. Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, a primary sponsor of SJR1, has requested a companion measure, Senate Joint Resolution 2, urging Congress to allow the state to receive 50 percent of any natural resource revenues generated on the federal lands.

“There is clearly a lot of support for these measures,” he said. “We’re going to run them out there quickly.”

The Nevada Land Management Task Force, established as a result of Assembly Bill 227 from the 2013 session, submitted a report to the Legislative Committee on Public Lands earlier this year that proposed to seek the transfer of about 7 million acres now controlled by federal agencies to the state. The committee, under the control of Democrats, refused to consider the recommendation.

But now Republicans are in control of both houses of the Legislature.

“I think the task force did a tremendous job on selecting that 7.2 million acres,” Goicoechea said. “The state will be able to generate a couple of hundred million dollars a year out of those lands, helping education and the state. These are public lands we can manage for a profit.”

The prefiled bills deal with issues ranging from public records to construction defect law to autism.

Senate Bill 1, appropriating $18 million for the cost of the 2015 session, is typically introduced and passed on the first day.

Senate Bill 2, introduced by Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, would allow speed limits to be increased from 75 mph to 85 mph on some state highways.

Senate Bill 79 would allow the regulation and taxation of liquid nicotine, used in electronic cigarettes.

The measures are just some of the more than 900 bills requested for drafting thus far for the 2015 session. Several hundred more requests will be made through the end of the session on June 1.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.