Highlights, lowlights as deadline passes in Carson City

Friday marked a legislative deadline for bills to advance in Carson City. The result was a mixed bag, with about 30 percent of the more than 900 pending proposals fading into oblivion — for now, at least.

Here are a few highlights:

■ Senate Bill 10, brought by the Nevada Association of Counties, would have raised residential property taxes by increasing the current floor on the levy. Thankfully, lawmakers weren’t buying. Raising taxes on Nevada homeowners during a pandemic is a bad idea, particularly when local government budgets have performed much better than expected in recent months.

■ Assembly Bill 380 was a backdoor effort to ban natural gas in Nevada over coming decades under the guise of fighting climate change.

The measure would have increased energy costs and had major ramifications for a host of appliances and other conveniences that are in widespread use. In a victory for common sense, the bill failed to advance out of committee.

■ A trio of bills that would have piled more costs on landlords and builders in the name of promoting “affordable” housing failed to move forward. Two measures would have given local governments more leeway to extract financial concessions from developers if they failed to price their units accordingly. These types of interventions actually exacerbate housing problems by making it less attractive for developers and landlords to enter the marketplace.

■ Assembly Bill 425, a much-needed civil forfeiture reform, moved forward at the deadline. Forfeiture statutes allow the police to take cars, homes, cash and other valuables from individuals who are only suspected of having committed a crime. The measure would, among other things, ensure that certain drug suspects face criminal charges before prosecutors move to seize their property, an improvement in terms of due process. Here are two lowlights:

■ Two Gop-sponsored bills to rein in the governor’s emergency powers died at the deadline. That’s too bad. A healthy democratic republic requires accountability, which is absent when lawmakers cede authority to the state’s chief executive with minimal oversight. Whether or not Gov. Steve Sisolak has overstepped his authority during the pandemic is a matter of legitimate debate. But there should be no arguing that the Legislature — regardless of which party controls what — should play a more active role in the emergency process.

■ Democrats in the Assembly Government Affairs Committee sided with secrecy over taxpayers and transparency by killing Assembly Bill 276. The proposal would have allowed those who are thwarted in their effort to view public records and later prevail in court to recover double their legal fees. This bill was a vital step forward in terms of promoting government accountability, and it deserved a better fate.

The views expressed above are those of the Las Vegas Review-journal.

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