The majority of bills introduced by Republican legislators this session failed to advance past last Friday’s first committee passage deadline, with nearly half of GOP-sponsored bills dying without a hearing.

Out of 249 bills and resolutions introduced by Republican legislators this year, 162 died at the deadline, including 121 bills that never received a committee hearing. Some of the top Republican-backed efforts that failed included election bills repealing expanded mail voting (AB134) and requiring proof of identity before voting (AB137, AB163) and attempts to curb the governor’s emergency powers (AB93, AB373).

A handful of Republican senators bore the brunt of that devastation, including Minority Leader James Settelmeyer (R-Minden), Keith Pickard (R-Henderson) and Carrie Buck (R-Henderson), who combined to sponsor 34 bills that never received a hearing prior to the deadline.

Pickard, who backed out of a deal with Senate Democrats during 2020’s special session, led that group with 13 bills that died without a hearing. However, Pickard does have some bills left alive, as six of his 20 introduced bills were ruled exempt from the deadline.

Buck, a freshman lawmaker who does not have a single bill left alive and received a hearing for only one piece of legislation she introduced, said on Twitter during deadline week that she thinks the policy this session is “ALL bad.”

In this year’s Democrat-controlled Legislature, lawmakers in the majority fared better. Of 334 bills introduced by Democrats, 78 died at the deadline, with only 46 of those never receiving a hearing.

Some Democratic lawmakers even escaped the first deadline with no casualties. Assembly members Cameron “C.H.” Miller (D-North Las Vegas), Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas), Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) and Susie Martinez (D-Las Vegas) introduced a combined 26 bills this session, none of which died last Friday.

Several Democratic lawmakers were not as fortunate. Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow (D-Las Vegas) and Sen. James Ohrenschall (D-Las Vegas) were the only lawmakers in their party to have more than half of their introduced bills killed at the deadline. Several of those failed bills were controversial, including an effort to curb use of the death penalty and a bill that would have established an opt-out organ donation system.

With the next major deadline less than a week away, Republican legislators are facing another potential wave of dead bills, as more than 90 percent of their remaining measures have yet to receive a floor vote.

This story first appeared in Behind the Bar, The Nevada Independent’s newsletter dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the 2021 Legislature. Sign up for the newsletter here.