There was some confusion, but I've confirmed from Gov. Brian Sandoval's office that he will act on all legislation by Friday.
That would comport with the Constitution, which says (emphasis added):
Sec: 35. Bills to be presented to governor; approval; disapproval and reconsideration by legislature; failure of governor to return bill. Every bill which may have passed the Legislature, shall, before it becomes a law be presented to the Governor. If he approve it, he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which House shall cause such objections to be entered upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider it; If after such reconsideration it again pass both Houses by yeas and nays, by a vote of two thirds of the members elected to each House it shall become a law notwithstanding the Governors objections. If any bill shall not be returned within five days after it shall have been presented to him (Sunday excepted) exclusive of the day on which he received it, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by its final adjournment, prevent such return, in which case it shall be a law, unless the Governor within ten days next after the adjournment (Sundays excepted) shall file such bill with his objections thereto, in the office of the Secretary of State, who shall lay the same before the Legislature at its next Session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor, and if the same shall receive the vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, upon a vote taken by yeas and nays to be entered upon the journals of each house, it shall become a law.
As with other wording in our sometimes opaquely written founding state document, this makes little sense as measures still are arriving (because of the backlog) from the Legislature to the governor's office. That is, Sandoval may have very little time to decide on some late-arriving measures.
But the Constitution doesn't say the clock starts ticking when the bills arive; it begins when the Legislature ends.
There was some confusion, but I've confirmed from Gov. Brian Sandoval's office that he will act on all legislation by Friday.
That would comport with the Constitution, which says (emphasis added):
Sec: 35. Bills to be presented to governor; approval; disapproval and reconsideration by legislature; failure of governor to return bill. Every bill which may have passed the Legislature, shall, before it becomes a law be presented to the Governor. If he approve it, he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which House shall cause such objections to be entered upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider it; If after such reconsideration it again pass both Houses by yeas and nays, by a vote of two thirds of the members elected to each House it shall become a law notwithstanding the Governors objections. If any bill shall not be returned within five days after it shall have been presented to him (Sunday excepted) exclusive of the day on which he received it, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by its final adjournment, prevent such return, in which case it shall be a law, unless the Governor within ten days next after the adjournment (Sundays excepted) shall file such bill with his objections thereto, in the office of the Secretary of State, who shall lay the same before the Legislature at its next Session, in like manner as if it had been returned by the Governor, and if the same shall receive the vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, upon a vote taken by yeas and nays to be entered upon the journals of each house, it shall become a law.
As with other wording in our sometimes opaquely written founding state document, this makes little sense as measures still are arriving (because of the backlog) from the Legislature to the governor's office. That is, Sandoval may have very little time to decide on some late-arriving measures.
But the Constitution doesn't say the clock starts ticking when the bills arive; it begins when the Legislature ends.
That means the deadline is Friday.
Comments: