SB 418: Political Betting This bill would allow casinos to take bets on federal election results. The upside? Think about it like this: You care more about the NCAA Tournament if you fill out a bracket; you care more about the NFL season if you’re in a Fantasy Football league, and you only care about the Kentucky Derby if you’ve got $100 riding on Governor Charlie. So maybe letting bettors put a Benjamin on the next presidential race would increase voter turnout and political participation. If not, at least it would bring money into our casinos and our state government. It’s a win-win.

SB 267: Teen Tanning This bill would prohibit kids under 18 from using UV tanning beds without parental consent and presence. About a dozen states have already enacted this law because, as everybody knows, tanning beds cause skin cancer. (But so does lying out by the pool. Are we going to regulate that, too?) Tanning beds are worse for you than the sun’s rays, and 16-year-olds can’t imagine what 50 looks like—let alone 50 with skin cancer. Parental permission seems fair, but parental presence? With all the tanning teens do these days, that’s just punitive.

Tax Burning Man Senate Majority Leader Mo Denis is thinking about slapping Nevada’s 5 percent live entertainment tax on Burning Man, which would net more than $1 million for the state. But Burners already pay the government a couple million dollars in various fees, and Burning Man isn’t about paid entertainers; it’s about people entertaining each other. So if you slap the entertainment tax on Burning Man, you have to slap it on karaoke night, too. Not to give you any ideas …