Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Thursday, March 7, 2013 | 11:50 a.m.
Assemblyman Steven Brooks questions Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, obscured in the photo, about canceling a subcommittee meeting, which in fact wasn't scheduled, during the third day of the 2013 legislative session Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Carson City.
Sun coverage
- Top Nevada court takes up Steven Brooks case, seeks response from Legislature (3-06-2013)
- Assemblyman Steven Brooks’ tussle with cops leads to criminal charges (3-04-2013)
- Brooks’ public behavior grows more erratic (02-08-2013)
- Brooks says he won’t take leave from Nevada Legislature (02-05-2013)
- Brooks situation ‘festers’ as legislative leaders avoid dealing with it (01-25-2013)
- Police detain Brooks for psychiatric evaluation, confiscate sword (01-25-2013)
- Assemblyman in jail, accused of threatening fellow lawmaker (01-20-2013)
- More Sun political news
Legislative bill drafters are running behind in turning out bills, due in part because of the mounting distraction posed by the potential ouster of troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-North Las Vegas.
Legislative Counsel Bureau director Rick Combs said the backlog — 772 bills are still being drafted out of 1,193 requests — can be attributed to a variety of reasons, including a bevy of freshmen lawmakers attempting legislation for the first time as well as drafting deadlines that may have ended up delaying the work rather than hastening the pace.
But Combs acknowledged that the backlog also is due to the time staff has had to spend researching and designing an unprecedented process for determining whether to expel a lawmaker.
"Surely it's due to the fact that we've had some distractions," Combs said, referring to the Brooks saga.
A select committee has been appointed to investigate whether Brooks — who has been arrested twice and involuntarily detained for a psychiatric evaluation once since the start of the year — is fit to serve in the Legislature. Assembly leaders had hoped to deal with the problem quickly, but the process has been delayed by trying to find a special counsel and other problems.
Brooks has since filed suit with the Nevada Supreme Court to halt the proceedings and reclaim his seat. Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, said Thursday morning some of his caucus' bills have been delayed because of the Brooks situation.
But Combs said the drafting backlog also is attributed to fewer pre-filed bills, a need to draft regulations after a moratorium expired, and lawmakers waiting until the last minute before a deadline to provide drafters with needed details.
Combs said they are 54 bills behind where they were two years ago and 13 bills ahead of where they were four years ago.
"I think we're OK, I really do," Combs said.
1,193 new bills? Is this what they submit every two years?
Do we really need over 1000 new rules/laws/B.S. every two years to keep this state running?
Is there anywhere on line we can see a list of these 1,193 new bills?
vegaslee: You can see anything that has been drafted into a bill already at www.leg.state.nv.us
Anything that is still in "Draft Form" (Bill Draft Request) doesn't get put online until it is completed by LCB.
Each legislator and committees are entitled to a certain number of bills each year. As you go through the list you'll see how many appear to be duplicates, but in reading the actual text, how they sometimes may be on the same subject but with opposing ideas! Kind of interesting
There come a point where Mr. Brooks can no longer be dealt with on a reasonable level.
It is time to drop the disciplinary hammer, per se, and be done with this issue of drama with Assemblyman Brooks.
@Vegaslee, go to the Nevada Legislature website and look on the list on the right hand side.....it will have a link to all BDRs and bills (click on BDR list or NELIS). The site is:
leg DOT state DOT nv DOT us (replace DOT with . and remove extra spaces).
BDRs will only have a title.....the text is available after a BDR becomes a bill (the subject of this article).
vegaslee,
Look at it this way (assuming Mark Twain is correct): the less "work" they get done, the less damage they can do.