Rules and Procedures Matter

During the last two weeks, the legislative process proved that you have to know the rules to master the game.

 Legislators faced a deadline on Friday, April 12. Bills had to pass out of their first committee to continue through the process. If they didn't get the votes or a hearing, the bill died. WCSD continues to monitor many different bills (ranging from education policy issues to other topics that could impact the operations side of the school district) that survived the deadline. Check out the bills that weren't so lucky here.

 The April 12 deadline set us up for a week of numerous and long floor sessions in the Senate and Assembly. Bills were introduced, amended, and passed to the next committee for further discussion. Some bills even received a full vote by the Senate or Assembly. All this activity is leading up to yet another deadline tomorrow (Tuesday, April 23) when bills must get passed out of their first house to move forward.

Unless, the proposed legislation is exempt from this deadline, which usually means the bill has a fiscal impact. Exempt bills can stay alive throughout the process even if they miss the scheduled deadlines. The list of bills receiving an exemption is growing, and you can see that list here.

 As more deadlines draw near, we get a clearer picture of what the end of the session will look like and the impact it could have on WCSD.

AB 46 Lives On

The energy is high and momentum is positive on the district’s most important piece of legislation this session: AB 46.

It took an important step in the legislative process today and you can read more about the details here

Half Time Show

Day 60. This is a big day in the Nevada Legislature, for a couple reasons;

 First, it’s the halfway point of our statutorily limited 120 session, wich means, instead, instead of breaking for half time, things are speeding up exponentially as we approach the first important deadline on April 12. By April 12, all bills have to be passed out of their original committee assignment. Without a long civics lesson, if bills don’t have enough support to get passed in their first committee, they die and will no longer be viable in the 2013 legislative session.

Second, our legislators quit earning a paycheck. They still get reimbursed for their expenses, but they no longer earn a salary for being an elected official. Fortunately, I don’t think many, if any, of our state legislators run for office because of the salary they make while in office. That said, they do regularly remind us that they are working for free after day 60.

The days are long now, but important discussions about ELL, high school proficiency exams, evaluations, student health services, and early childhood programs consume the hours in the legislative building.

It’s time to get the team ready for the second half. Go WCSD!