Thursday, June 10, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn says Nevada "is ahead of the White House" with its new law to help low-income senior citizens pay for their prescription drugs.
He said an estimated 21,000 elderly persons will benefit from his signing of Assembly Bill 474, which uses part of the tobacco settlement money to take care of what many seniors consider their "No. 1 problem."
In a ceremony in his office Wednesday, Guinn also signed Senate Bill 496, his Millennium Scholarship plan; Senate Bill 370, called the "nest egg protection" for senior citizens headed for nursing homes, and Senate Bill 478, his overhaul of the state Ethics Commission.
"These are four great bills," he said.
During the day he also signed more than 75 other bills, including:
Senate Bill 521, which solidifies the tax exemption given Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn for his $300 million art collection at the Bellagio.
Senate Bill 438, for deregulation of the electric industry next March but capping rates for homeowners for three years.
Senate Bill 551 and Assembly Bill 697, authorizing the state agencies to spend more than $12 billion in the next two years in state and federal funds and fees collected by the various departments.
The governor told reporters that seniors nationwide pay an average of $90 a month for prescription drugs and in Nevada it may be a little higher.
Medicare doesn't pay for drugs. But President Clinton, according to news reports Tuesday, is expected to propose that seniors could pay a monthly premium to Medicare to help cover the cost of prescription medication.
Under AB474, the state Human Resources Department will enter into contracts with private insurance companies to cover the cost of drugs for those 62 years and older. Seniors could sign up for this policy and those with an income of less than $21,500 would receive a subsidy ranging from 10 percent to 90 percent with a cap of $480 a year.
Guinn suggested that low-income seniors could pay as low as $4 a month for this coverage, but they would have to make a co-payment of $10-$15 for a prescription. The premiums projected to be $40 to $50 a month.
Fifteen percent of the estimated $48 million a year in the tobacco settlement money will go toward the senior drug prescription program. Another 15 percent is going to the state Division of Aging Services to assist senior citizens to stay in their own homes instead of going to nursing care centers.
The money would be used for such things as transportation costs and to pay caregivers.
The bill sets aside 10 percent to improve health services for children and the disabled and 10 percent will go to programs aimed to cut use of cigarettes and drugs. Ten percent is set aside in a trust fund from which interest will be used to finance health projects.
The bill also makes cash awards. The public television stations in Las Vegas and Reno will receive $1 million each to switch to digital service. In return they will air thousands of anti-tobacco advertisements, aimed mostly at children.
The medical school at the University of Nevada will receive $5 million for a health center in Las Vegas to treat the poor and the aged. The state Rehabilitation Division will receive $5 million for housing and services for the disabled in Clark County. And $1 million is set aside for upgrading medical technology in rural Nevada.
Guinn's Millennium Scholarship plan will receive 40 percent of the tobacco yearly payment to finance college scholarships for high school students who have at least B averages. Those who qualify will get up to $2,500 a year to attend the universities or $1,250 to go to the community colleges.
Guinn called it one of the "most profound" programs he has been involved in during his 34 years in Nevada.
It starts for students who graduate from a Nevada high school after May 2000. And they must carry at least 12 credit hours at the universities or at least six hours at the community colleges. They must maintain a 2.0 grade-point average to continue the scholarship.
"This will help thousands and thousands of people from all walks of life," Guinn said. "Education is what it is all about."
The "nest egg" bill, SB370, will allow seniors who qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care without giving up all their income. The bill provides that a person must purchase an insurance policy to cover the cost of three years in a nursing home. After the individual spends the three years, he or she is eligible for Medicaid if the household income is under $200,000 a year.
Guinn said he hopes to approach the 2001 Legislature with some plan for a subsidy for paying for the nursing care insurance policy.
The fourth bill, SB478, overhauls Nevada's ethics law. It expands the Ethics Commission from six to eight members and provides for an executive director and an independent attorney. At present the commission has only a full-time clerk and a part-time lawyer supplied by the attorney general's office.
Deadlines are set for the commission to make decisions, instead of allowing them to linger for up to a year in some cases. The executive director will determine if a complaint is valid within 15 days and then submit it to a panel of two commissioners. The panel has 15 days to decide if there is probable cause to go forward. The complaint is submitted to the remaining six commissioners to rule within 30 days if there has been a violation of the law.
Fines for a second offense are increased from the present $5,000 to a maximum of $10,000 and up to $25,000 for a third and subsequent offense.
"It's tough and it's fair," Guinn said.
The law, to be effective Oct. 1, gives the chairman the power to subpoena records or people.
The governor also signed Assembly Bill 701, giving a 2 percent pay raise for the 15,000 state workers starting in July 2000; Assembly Bill 348, giving more leeway to the formation of charter schools and allocating $600,000 to the Andre Agassi Foundation in Las Vegas for a charter school, and Assembly Joint Resolution 1 calling on Congress to allow the Air Force to indefinitely control the 3 million acres used for the bombing range in Southern Nevada if it agrees never to locate a high-level nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain, which is within the boundaries.
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