Select Committees and Committees of Conference

Select committees are also temporary committees appointed for a special purpose, which may be the consideration of a particular bill or the performance of a ceremonial function (e.g., a committee on escort for a visiting dignitary). In Nevada, bills of application or primary concern to particular localities are sometimes referred to select committees composed of the legislative delegation from the area affected.

A particularly important type of select committee is the conference committee. Whenever a bill is passed by both houses in differing forms because of amendments added by one of the houses, and the two houses cannot agree on identical language for the bill in question, each house appoints a number of conferees to meet with conferees of the other house to seek a resolution of the differences existing in the two versions of the bill. In a conference committee, the conferees of one house may agree to amendments adopted in the other house or recede from the amendments adopted by their chamber. Conferees may also decide that new amendments or even new bills are necessary to reach accord. A conference committee may consider the whole subject matter of a bill without restriction to the points in dispute and may make any changes it deems appropriate. Once the conferees reach an agreement, they report back to their respective houses with their recommendations. The report of a conference committee may be adopted by acclamation, and such action is considered equivalent to the final passage voting requirement of the bill as recommended in the report. Conference reports themselves are not subject to amendment.

The Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly require that there be no more than two conference committees on any bill or resolution. The rules also require that a majority of the members from each house on a committee be members who voted for passage of the measure. No member who served on the first conference committee for a measure may be appointed to the second. If agreement cannot be reached by the second conference committee, the bill or resolution is dead.

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Last updated 9/10/2009