LEGISLATURE 2011: Cooperative spirit puts veto overrides on hold

Legislative leadership has decided not to bring bills vetoed by Gov. Jim Gibbons up for an override vote for the time being.

Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said the working relationship Democratic leaders in both houses have with the Brian Sandoval administration is so much better than it was with Gibbons that he believes it unnecessary to try to override those vetoes.

"Unless there's an overriding reason to bring them up, they'll stay where they're at," said Oceguera.

There are four vetoed bills on the Assembly chief clerk's desk and four more on the secretary of the Senate's desk, including Assembly Bill 395, which would have extended collective bargaining rights to state workers for non-economic issues such as work conditions. They are measures vetoed by Gibbons after the 2009 Legislature and, in one case, after the 26th Special Session last February, went home.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said the idea is to move forward.

"He (Sandoval) didn't veto them," he said. "The former governor did."

"Some of those may come back in a different form," said Oceguera. "With some tweaks."

Sandoval's Chief of Staff Heidi Gansert and Senior Policy Adviser Dale Erquiaga said they appreciate that attitude and also believe any of the issues dealt with in those eight bills can be resolved in a cooperative way.

Oceguera also indicated there's a more political reason not to push for a vote on those measures: "Given the make-up of the chamber, I'm not certain they'd override."

Two years ago, Democrats had a veto proof two-thirds majority in the Assembly. They're two short of that number this session.

Other bills on the list include:

• AB451 established a program putting up to $20 million in state money with banks and loan companies to provide low interest loans to minority companies.

• AB130 changed the make-up of the fiscal committee governing the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and doubled the pay of public members on that body to $80 a day.

• AB503 creating an advisory committee to develop recommendations for funding highway projects and giving that body the power to put advisory questions on the ballot to get public response to its recommendations.

• SB143 appropriating $500,000 to pay costs of implementing legislation concerning state revenue enacted by the 2009 Legislature.

• SB376 requires the labor commissioner to recognize negotiated labor rates in setting prevailing wages for public works.

• SB396 gives police officers under investigation by their own agencies more rights in the process, including barring any statements made during the department investigation from being used in a later criminal investigation.

• Finally, SB3 of the 26th Special Session makes a variety of changes to the rules governing furloughs and overtime, which are moot since the Sandoval administration is replacing furloughs with pay cuts.