Sandoval’s 2017 veto count second-highest in state history

Gov. Brian Sandoval has vetoed 41 bills this year, a number topped only by the 48 issued in 2009 by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Amid the vetoes and a Democratic majority in both houses of the Legislature, the Republican Sandoval has also signed more than 600 measures into law.

Sandoval and Majority Leader Sen. Aaron D. Ford, D-las Vegas, agree that there will be disagreements when branches of government controlled by different parties consider new policies.

“I’m dealing with Democratic majorities, and some of their priorities aren’t the same as mine,” Sandoval said last week. “That’s part of the process. This is the separation of powers.”

Sandoval was governor during two of the five sessions with the most vetoes, state data going back to 1899 shows. This year’s vetoes need to be put into perspective, Sandoval said. His office noted that the 608 bills he signed are the most he’s ever approved from a single session.

Sandoval issued 28 vetoes in 2011, 17 in 2013 and seven in 2015, when Republicans controlled the Legislature. 48, Jim Gibbons (R), 2009 41, Brian Sandoval (R), 2017 30, Tasker Oddie (R), 1911 29, Richard Kirman (D), 1937 28, Sandoval (R), 2011

23, Kirman (D) ,1935

“Even with Republican majorities, there were some bills that I didn’t agree with,” Sandoval said. “I think that speaks to the fact that I try to keep the best interests of the people of Nevada in mind when I sign those bills.”

Among the Democrat-backed bills signed by the governor are a ban on conversion therapy for minors and a requirement for diaper-changing tables that are accessible to both men and women in new public buildings.

His vetoes included Assembly Bill 272, allowing the creation of voting centers where any registered voter could cast a ballot on Election Day, regardless of where they live. Sandoval said in his veto message that the current system worked and he’d heard no “compelling” reasons for reform.

Also vetoed was Senate Bill 196 on paid sick leave, with Sandoval citing potential negative impacts to businesses.

“Bills like minimum wage, paid sick leave, making it easier to vote — some of those policies were those that we knew were more of a challenge for the governor,” Ford said last week. “We’re disappointed that he didn’t see what we saw, which is that the vast majority of citizens in this state wanted all of those things to happen.”

Two pieces of minimum wage-raising legislation passed along party lines this session. Senate Bill 106 sought increases through Nevada’s labor commission but was vetoed by the governor. Senate Joint Resolution 6 would have enacted the change through a voter-approved constitutional amendment. Lawmakers need to vote again in 2019 to decide whether it goes to a ballot.

In vetoing the minimum wage bill, Sandoval said it was important to note that passing the resolution again would give voters the ability to decide whether raising the minimum wage was appropriate.

Sandoval said SB106 had been