Schneider, Shaffer, Dini still at top of lobbyist spending list

CARSON CITY - Sens. Ray Shaffer and Mike Schneider and Assembly Speaker Joe Dini are still at the head of the line of lawmakers wined and dined by lobbyists, who report spending $18,668 during the first three months of Nevada's 1999 legislative session.

An analysis by The Associated Press also shows that lobbyists for casinos, mines, taxpayer and business associations and Nevada's two state universities in Reno and Las Vegas are the big spenders among the nearly 700 advocates registered for the session.

Shaffer, D-North Las Vegas, is No. 1 among lawmakers, taking $989 in food and drink from lobbyists.

Schneider, D-Las Vegas, is second at $839, and Dini, D-Yerington, is third at $819.

The three lawmakers also were at the top of the lists on lobbyist spending in February and March.

A dozen of the 63 lawmakers have zeros after their names: Sens. Jon Porter, Valerie Weiner, Mark James, Randolph Townsend, and Bernice Mathews; and Assembly members Sharron Angle, Merle Berman, Barbara Cegavske, Dawn Gibbons, Don Gustavson, John Lee and Kathy Von Tobel. Sen. Ann O'Connell was down for just $5.

Several of the legislators with the zeros had been listed for small sums previously, but wrote checks afterwards to the lobbyists who had entertained them so they'd have nothing showing.

Porter has said he takes nothing because of what he terms a "perception problem." He even printed cards stating he won't take any food or drinks from lobbyists.

Schneider has a different view. He says attending receptions hosted by lobbyists is part of his job. But he also plans to write a check at the end of the session for whatever his total is and give it to a program for the mentally retarded in Las Vegas.

The top-spending lobbyist through April was Bob Dickens of the University of Nevada, Reno, at $1,930. Second in line is Rick Bennett of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, at $776.

Jim Avance, representing various slot machine companies, was third at $767. Russ Fields of the Nevada Mining Association was fourth, spending $701 on lawmakers. Carole Vilardo of the Nevada Taxpayers Association was fifth at $689.

Casino interests are lower down on the list. Harvey Whittemore of the Nevada Resort Association, for example, is 18th in line with $311 in reported spending.

But the reports from such high-powered advocates have been questioned privately by a few other lobbyists - and publicly by the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

PLAN, a public interest group, says some of the most powerful lobbying groups may be ignoring the reporting requirements, or coming up with their own interpretations to justify minimal reporting.

The existing law does have enforcement provisions, and the lawmakers' chief staffer, Lorne Malkiewich, must investigate any claims of non-reporting. No such claims have been filed.

The result of such a probe would be forwarded to the attorney general and to the Legislative Commission, a panel that mainly handles legislative chores between sessions.

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