SB 192 Is AMENDED, Passes Committee

Last month, we took a closer look at SB 192. It claims to "preserve religious freedom", but it's actually a pernicious plan to undermine anti-discrimination laws in order to attack others' freedom. Early on, SB 192 gathered plenty of co-sponsors and looked like a sure bet to pass.

But over the past month, that's changed. In particular, the increasing talk of this as a "Trojan Horse Bill" has forced lawmakers to rethink their support for the bill. But is it enough to stop the bill?

Perhaps so. I've been monitoring the Senate Judiciary Committee all morning. And while they've been dealing with a full load of bills (tackling everything from betting on federal elections to repealing "crimes against nature"!), I've yet to hear a peep on SB 192.

And just minutes ago, AP reporter Sandra Chereb tweeted that only one bill remains on Judiciary's docket. And that bill is... Another gaming bill, specifically regarding sports kiosks. So what just happened?

So far, SB 192 has not come up in this committee, its originating committee. And remember, today is the deadline for a bill to pass its originating committee. So if SB 192 does not pass committee today, it's officially dead.

For a bill that suddenly generated plenty of controversy over religion, discrimination, and civil rights, SB 192 looks to be suffering a rather quiet death. But funny enough, this quiet death somewhat resembles its quiet birth. Ah, poetic justice...

UPDATE 10:50 AM: Doh! I should have noticed Steve Sebelius' tweet two hours ago. SB 192 was dropped from Senate Judiciary's agenda. So it's officially dead. I'll express my condolences to Senator Barbara Cegavske (R-Spring Valley) over the loss of her bill. (/snark)

UPDATE 11:00 AM: Whoops! Not so fast. Steve Sebelius just had to retract what he tweeted, as Senator Tick Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) is insisting that SB 192 is still on the agenda and will get a vote today. So we may have to wait a little longer, and we may even have a committee vote on public record soon.

So stay tuned, since this story isn't over yet.

UPDATE 11:10 AM: Senator Cegavske apparently agreed to work with Senators Aaron Ford (D-Spring Valley) and Mark Hutchison (R-Las Vegas) to amend SB 192 to clarify it can NOT be used as an end run around anti-discrimination laws. And apparently, that's good enough for everyone on the committee. It passed unanimously.

This will need closer examination. But so far, it looks like the most egregious aspects of SB 192 are gone. In the coming days, we will be investigating this further to see what's now in SB 192 and what it now means. So stay tuned, as this story is now far from over.