LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has vetoed a bill that would have limited train lengths in the state to 7,500 feet, and set requirements for hotbox detectors along rail lines.
Assembly Bill 456, which had passed the Assembly 28-14 and the Senate 13-8, required wayside detectors every 10 to 15 miles or limited trains to 10 mph on tracks not so equipped, and required stopped trains to clear grade crossings upon the approach of an emergency vehicle.
Lombardo’s veto message called the bill “another policy overreach from the legislature” and said it was “unlikely unlikely to withstand litigation” given U.S. Supreme Court precedent on laws regarding interstate commerce. As a result, he said, while the law was “mostly well-intended … I cannot support it.”
As of Friday, the Reno Gazette Journal reports Lombardo, a Republican, had vetoed 24 bills passed by the legislature, in which both chambers are controlled by Democrats.
At least this governor knows the basic issue of interstate commerce. The states can only regulate transport within their boarders. If it crosses state lines it then becomes a federal regulatory issue. Most trains in Nevada are crossing state lines so in the railroads case the Surface Transportation Agency regulations would apply. As the governor noted state regulations have been overturned in the courts in the past when dealing with interstate commerce.
How do the uneducated keep getting elected to positions that require intelligence about issues that they have not a clue about. America needs to elect qualified individuals, not a failed business types.
He/She who promises to give the most “free stuff” wins elections.
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that, so often, state legislatures tend to be dumping grounds for the terminally unemployable?
Same problem exists in our country Terry starting right at the top, part time drama teacher.