The moment of truth has come — lawmakers face a major deadline Friday when they must pass bills out of a committee in their house of origin or let them die.

Expect a fluid schedule, last minute horse-trading and potentially late meetings as sponsors try to salvage doomed legislation. Committee schedules are likely to change throughout the day, though votes and hearings on several major issues are tentatively scheduled as of Thursday night.

Here are three things to watch on Friday:

Medicaid for all, take two

Democratic Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle is presenting his “Medicaid for all” bill, which would allow individuals to purchase coverage through Medicaid at a certain premium.

The legislation, AB374, would require the Department of Health and Human Services to make coverage through Medicaid available for purchase to any person who is not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. Individuals would apply to the department or purchase coverage through the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange if a waiver has been obtained from the federal government.

The annual premium charged for coverage would be set at 150 percent of the median expenditure paid on behalf of a Medicaid recipient during the immediately preceding fiscal year.

The bill has been granted a waiver, which means it is not subject to the Friday deadline for first committee passage. A similar bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman was amended into a study of the feasibility of such a program and was passed by Senate Health and Human Services on Wednesday.

Watch the hearing at about 12:30 p.m. in Assembly Health and Human Services.

Collective bargaining for state employees

Lawmakers are set to vote on a controversial proposal to allow state employees to unionize.

A hearing last week on SB486 drew state employees who said they were living paycheck to paycheck, and others who pointed to the trouble that state agencies — including the Department of Corrections — have retaining workers because their wages are lower than their unionized counterparts in local government.

Sandoval’s office has said that while he “has great respect and appreciation for state employees and values their devotion to public service,” he can’t support the bill. A spokeswoman for Sandoval noted that his budget includes raises for state employees, who had their salaries frozen during the downturn.

“The Governor and the Legislature have a constitutional responsibility to present a balanced budget and tying the hands of future administrations or legislatures with these agreements is not in the best interests of our state,” his office said.

Watch for the vote on Friday morning in the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

Payday loan reforms

Legislators are set to finally take action on a pair of bills dealing with short-term, high interest loans including one that would cap interest rates.

Members of the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee have scheduled votes on two measures related to so-called “payday loans,” including:

• AB163, sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Edgar Flores, would more clearly define terms such as “ability to repay” and “grace period,” as well as require a person applying for a title loan to own the vehicle’s title.
• AB222, sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, would impose a 36 percent rate cap on short-term loans, require new deferred deposit or title loan businesses to be at least 1,320 feet apart, prohibit more than one loan at a time for an individual and create a 30 day “cooling off” period between loans.

Watch the committee votes on both measures at approximately 1 p.m.