(Victor Joecks, Las Vegas Review-Journal) – The proposal to make Nevada a “sanctuary state” is dead. And there was much rejoicing.
I told you two weeks ago that law-enforcement opposition to the proposal would ensure its doom, but how it happened reveals a split Senate Democrat caucus and a politician looking towards 2018.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, had scheduled Senate Bill 223, the sanctuary state proposal of Sen. Yvanna Cancela, D-Las Vegas, for a hearing on Monday. But on the evening of March 24, a new agenda was posted without SB223.
While agenda revisions happen all the time, it’s unusual for a bill to get pulled when both the sponsor and the committee chairman are supporters. The only person with that kind of leverage is Sen. Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, who can appoint and unappoint committee chairs.
Ford didn’t just spike the hearing. He scuttled the bill entirely.
