There’s plenty of difference between Republicans and Democrats

It was segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace who declared during the 1968 presidential campaign that “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and the Democrats.”

But that’s certainly not true of the 2015 Nevada Legislature, where Republicans and Democrats are presenting quite a contrast.

On Monday, Democrats released their “Nevada Blueprint,” a policy document that outlined their priorities, everything from universal all-day kindergarten to raising the minimum wage to equal pay for women to same-day voter registration. Most of the ideas are long shots in a Legislature that Republicans control for the first time in decades.

So, if those are the Democratic priorities, what’s the Republican agenda? The GOP didn’t take the time to put together a PowerPoint presentation or hold a news conference on the steps of the Legislative Building in Carson City, but in the first month or so of the session, they’ve been pretty clear about their ideas.

• Make it harder for people to sue. Democrats in their Blueprint pledged to “protect every Nevadan’s right to his or her day in court.” But the Republicans aren’t as fond of litigation.

One of the first bills passed by the Legislature (and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval) was Assembly Bill 125, a construction defects bill that more narrowly defines what constitutes a construction defect, repeals a section of existing law that allows for reasonable attorneys fees and requires defect cases to be brought sooner. It passed along party lines.

On Monday, Senate Bill 224 was debated. Although the bill (introduced Friday) ostensibly sought to add a definition of “independent contractor” to state law, it included a section that could make class-action lawsuits against employers for failure to pay a proper minimum wage nearly impossible. And it contained a section that would have applied the class-action provision to active cases.

• Tinker with the minimum wage. Also on Monday, the Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee heard Senate Joint Resolution 6 by state Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City. Under a proposed amendment, it would repeal a voter-approved constitutional amendment that sets the minimum wage, allowing the Legislature to set the wage by statute.

Hardy maintains the two-tiered system ($7.25 per hour for employees who receive capped-cost health care benefits, $8.25 per hour for those who don’t) actually hurts Nevada workers, because health care costs leave the higher-paid workers with less money than the lower-paid workers.

Democrats have a solution to this, too: Leave the constitutional amendment in place, but raise the minimum wage to $15 or $16 per hour. That’s in Senate Joint Resolution 8, introduced by state Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas.

And let’s not forget Senate Bill 119, which eliminated the prevailing wage law on school construction projects, ostensibly to allow more schools to be built.

• Guns, guns, guns! Particularly in the Assembly, pro-gun lawmakers have spent plenty of time debating who can carry guns, where those people should be allowed to carry guns, and under precisely what circumstances one Nevadan may lawfully kill another. In fact, it’s safe to say we’ve heard more gun bills than we ever did when Democrats were in charge and killing Republican bills.

Democrats are mostly mum on guns, probably because an initiative that would extend legally required gun-store background checks to all firearms sales is likely headed for the 2016 ballot. Republicans have offered Senate Bill 240, which would continue the current practice of voluntary background checks for private-party gun sales and waive fees associated with them. (It would also provide civil and criminal immunity for private-party sellers regardless of whether a check is conducted.)

I have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to debate ways to build a society in which people weren’t so filled with fear and paranoia that they wanted to carry a gun everywhere they go. If the Legislature concentrated on ways to ensure every Nevadan had a good job with a livable wage, a decent (defect-free) home, a good education, affordable health care and security in their retirement, maybe there’d be less talk about killing and more about living.

That would be a contrast worth seeing.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.