Nevada lawmakers have requested bills for next session

Other proposals to be drafted include a ban on door-to-door sales by school students and to spell out rules for appeals filed on behalf of condemned convicts who don't appeal on their own.

A total of 313 measures have been requested by legislators and government agencies so far. The list was released Wednesday by the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

The number of requests will expand as the session approaches. More than 1,100 bills were introduced in 1997, but the number may be limited next year if voters approve a November ballot measure limiting sessions to 120 days.

Most of the proposals include the identity of the agency or lawmaker making the request. But 75 measures have been requested anonymously by lawmakers - including the proposal to raise the casino tax.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, confirmed later that the tax plan was his - along with another proposal to repeal a tax break that benefits casino mogul Steve Wynn and other collectors of fine art.

Neal, a candidate for governor, has made both issues part of his campaign.

The proposal to reduce the blood alcohol level to determine driving under the influence from the current 0.10 to 0.08 was requested by Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas.

The death penalty proposal came from Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. Her office is currently battling with lawyers for the mother of death row inmate Alvaro Calambro, who has filed a "next friend" appeal to stop her son's execution.

Assemblywoman Merle Berman, R-Las Vegas, is seeking a law to ban door-to-door sales by students for school fund-raising activities. Berman said she requested the legislation after learning of a boy in New Jersey who had been molested and killed while selling candy door-to-door.

Another proposal sought by state employees would give them collective bargaining powers provide bonuses for workers from agency savings, and revamp the controversial state Committee on Benefits.

Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, requested a measure to rename Floyd Lamb State Park to Tule Springs State Park. Lamb was forced to resign from the Nevada Senate in 1983 after being convicted of attempted extortion.

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