Monday, March 31, 1997 | 5:49 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Legislature is getting a taste of its own medicine in the unpredictable world of computers.
Lawmakers have not been shy in the past to criticize executive agencies such as the state Welfare Division, Wildlife Division and Taxation Department when their computer projects went sour.
But the $1.7 million legislative computer system that was supposed to be ready for the January opening is lagging. And a key part of it probably won't be ready for use this session.
"We made the mistake that at the same time we did the computer system, we did the (new) building," said Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, chairman of the Legislative Commission, which oversaw the projects. "It all hit at once."
The building was supposed to be completed by January but work is still being performed.
The $1.7 million contract awarded to Pythia Corp. of Indianapolis was to cover the cost of laptop computers for all lawmakers, installation of a new system for drafting of bills, modernization of the operations of the front desk, and to start new computerized voting in each house.
"The voting system in the chambers is there," said Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau. "The video display is there."
But it's been operating fully only in recent weeks.
What's not working is the system to allow attorneys for the Legislature to draft the bills.
As of Friday, 566 bills had been introduced in the Senate and Assembly -- 126 fewer than at this time two years ago. The session is in its third month. There were supposed to be 1,000 bills ready for introduction on opening day.
Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said last week that the Assembly has passed about 50 bills, which is about 10 higher than at this time in 1995. But the pace is slower for several reasons, including the computer snafu.
Malkiewich said the attorney staff has "jerry-rigged" its own system for drafting bills. It has also put together the website. But many of the automatic functions on the old system are not available in the new, slowing down work.
He said it would be impractical to return to the old system now.
Townsend said, "I would rather wait a session and give them time to practice," referring to the new bill-drafting system.
The wireless individual computer system has yet to live up to its billing. About 50-60 percent of the lawmakers use them regularly.
"It will take a session or two for those of us who don't use computers on a daily basis to get used to them," Townsend said.
Some lawmakers, he said, need time to become "computer literate."
Malkiewich said the reports that were supposed to be available for legislators on the laptop computers are not yet installed. "We hope to have them in place by the middle of April," he said.
This would permit a lawmaker to call up a bill when it is being discussed in committee or on the floor and write notes about possible amendments.
What is working well, it appears, is the computerized budget programs used by the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees in looking at spending programs for agencies. "They can take notes on the budgets," Malkiewich said.
He said the Legislature got a "pretty good bargain" on the $1.7 million price and added that some of the money has been withheld until Pythia delivers an acceptable product on each project.
Another reason for the slow session, Townsend and Malkiewich said, is there aren't as many bills requested this time. At the close of the second month, 300 fewer bills had been requested.
Townsend said this session is focusing more on the major issues -- infrastructure, utility deregulation, the budget and mental health. This proves, he said, that lawmakers don't have to draft every bill requested or pass every bill introduced. The Legislature doesn't have to get into micromanaging the executive agencies, he said.
Until now, there has been little open criticism by legislators of the delays in their own system. And so far, there's been no indication there may be cost overruns.
When the state Welfare Division ran $7 million over cost on its long-delayed computer system, there was a barrage of criticism from lawmakers. The same thing happened when the Wildlife Division ran into problems with its new computer system.
And the Taxation Department got its share of criticism when its new revenue computer system did not live up to expectations. The department has since sued Best Consulting of Reno, saying it has had to spend more than $500,000 to fix the deficiencies.
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