The Nevada Constitution prohibits drawing money from the State Treasury unless such money is drawn as a consequence of an appropriation made by law. (Nev. Const. Art. 4, § 19) This resolution proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to prohibit the Legislature from: (1) appropriating money to any political organization, including, without limitation, a political party or a committee for political action; and (2) including an appropriation to a nonprofit organization in any bill that is required to fund a portion of the state budget for the next ensuing biennium.
Under the Nevada Constitution, the Governor is authorized to veto only an entire bill passed by the Legislature. (Nev. Const. Art. 4, § 35) This resolution proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to provide the Governor with line-item veto power for bills containing appropriations. Specifically, this resolution provides that if any bill presented to the Governor contains one or more appropriations, the Governor may strike from the bill any or all such appropriations without objecting to the bill as a whole. If the Governor strikes out one or more appropriations, the Governor must, within 48 hours after the bill is presented to the Governor: (1) attach to the bill a statement of the appropriations stricken out and the reasons therefor; and (2) transmit a copy of the statement to the House in which the bill originated or the Secretary of State, depending on whether the Legislature has adjourned sine die. This resolution also authorizes the Legislature to override the action to strike out one or more of the appropriations.