Saturday, June 7, 2003 | 3:48 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: June 8, 2003
CARSON CITY -- The 2003 Legislature is expected to be remembered for the largest tax increase in state history, but lawmakers say the 72nd session should be noted for much more.
Although the 63 lawmakers are still meeting in a special sesson to hash out a tax plan, much was accomplished during the 120-day regular session that ended early Tuesday.
When Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, offered a brief pep talk to her colleagues after the regular session adjourned, she noted that the list of accomplishments was longer than any she had seen.
"I think it does demonstrate that the state is growing up and that if you elect legislators (who) care about the everyday problems, you'll see the kind of focus that we made this year," Buckley said.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said the regular session "was harder than most" because of the pressure to make cuts in the budget and still provide a balance of services.
He said one "good gain" was the passage of the state's No Child Left Behind bill because it will bring Nevada into compliance with the federal law and will require more testing, evaluation and help for students.
In general, lawmakers are patting themselves on the back for passing sweeping antiterrorism measures and landmark construction-defect legislation. They also say they made progress on education issues and deserve credit for adopting consumer protection measures as well as for the health and welfare funding.
One of the most publicized new laws was a 0.08 blood-alcohol limit for drivers after more than a decade of failed attempts to approve the lower limit.
"This is a real life-saving measure," said the bill's sponsor, Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas.
It was also a money-saving measure. If Nevada had kept the limit at 0.10, it could have lost up to $28.5 million in federal funds.
Other changes include a requirement for toddlers to be strapped in a car booster seat, and a fine of $25 for each taxi passenger caught not wearing a seat belt. Meanwhile, legislators also passed a law that prohibits local governments from outlawing cell phone use by drivers.
A statewide Amber Alert system for public notification about abducted children was deemed one of the successes of this session.
Another measure provides for increased penalties for those who commit or assist in acts of terrorism, and Assembly Bill 441 creates a state Homeland Security Committee and specifies certain documents as classified for the protection of the public.
Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, sponsored both of those bills and said they create important policy while being mindful of constitutional rights.
"I think we walked a very narrow line and ultimately landed in an area that both protects public safety and the public's rights," Perkins said.
A report was presented to the Legislature that showed law enforcement officers stopped a disproportionately larger number of black and Hispanic drivers, but bills to restrict racial profiling failed.
The Legislature also declined to pass a bill to allow law enforcement to mount cameras at intersections to catch motorists who speed or don't obey stoplights.
Long time coming
Some other bills that passed this session had been in the works for years.
The integration of the child welfare system in Clark County is finally being pushed through with funding from the state. Unifying the state and county systems should keep children from falling between the cracks of the two systems, advocates say.
"We finally got that done," Buckley said.
Six years of consensus-building went into the construction defects bill, which still was the subject of a massive fight during the session.
Senate Bill 241 establishes a right-to-repair for home builders, but maintains a homeowner's right to sue a builder who does not repair a defect within a specific time frame.
"The construction bill is a major piece of legislation," Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, said. "The uniqueness is the obligation on the contractors and subcontractors to fix the problems and thus avoid getting into court and clogging up the system."
Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, said members of his caucus worked mostly on the budget and tried to get the overall tax package number reduced.
"In the minority party, you have to play within the system, and our members are most satisfied with work they did on bills that didn't come out," Hettrick said.
Although it has yet to settle on an overall tax plan to fund the state, the Legislature ratified a $2.7 billion plan to improve the transportation system in Clark County over the next 25 years, and that calls for increases in sales, aviation-fuel and construction taxes.
License fees for fishing and hunting will cost more beginning in March.
Consumer protection
"This was a session for consumers," Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said.
Buckley cited Assemblyman David Brown's work on regulating check-cashing businesses as an example of the minority party's work on consumer issues. Brown, R-Henderson, got his bill through the Assembly but saw the language change in the Senate.
The most noteworthy consumer-protection proposal erupted into a sessionlong battle over how to create a telemarketing registry.
Ultimately, Assembly Bill 232, which prohibits telemarketers from calling residents who put their names on a national registry, was approved.
"It's a good bill that will allow people to have a quiet dinner at home without interruptions from telemarketers," bill sponsor Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, said.
The state Public Utilities Commission will be prohibited from regulating broadband services. The legislation does not limit or modify the commission's authority to consider rate cases or act on a consumer complaint.
Another major consumer measure -- a prohibition of credit scoring by insurance companies -- was amended into Senate Bill 319.
The bill adopts the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' model act specifying that an insurer who uses a credit report in determining a person's auto insurance rate must disclose that practice.
An insurer may not use credit inquiries initiated by the applicant or policyholder or collection accounts related to medical treatment in creating an adverse decision based on the report.
Other consumer protection measures passed this session include:
All originated in the Assembly. More consumer-protection legislation came out of the Assembly because Democrats control the lower house. Democrats typically support more government oversight. Republicans, who control the Senate, generally favor less government intervention in the marketplace.
One consumer protection measure that came from the Senate was Senate Bill 124, sponsored by Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas. SB124 aims to ensure that corporate officers remain personally liable if they intentionally mislead the public or knowingly violate the law.
The Legislature also worked to level the playing field for alternative energy providers and enacted several environmental protections.
One of the most significant measures for Clark County was Titus' Red Rock Canyon Preservation Act, which prohibits development in the area surrounding the national conservation area.
Two bills established measures to rehabilitate so-called brownfield sites -- environmentally spoiled areas designated by the Environmental Protection Agency for cleanup.
Four bills enacted provisions relating to alternative energy, including one that establishes new procedures for the state's power companies to include alternative energy sources in their net metering.
And hopes are that people will leave cars at home and use a Segway, the electric-powered stand-up scooter. The Legislature classified Segways as pedestrian so they could be legally driven on sidewalks.
Judicial system changes
Legislators had spent much of the time before the 2003 session studying potential reforms to Nevada's death penalty laws.
Several measures from that study won approval this session, including a bill prohibiting execution of the mentally retarded and another eliminating the use of a three-judge panel to hand down a death sentence.
Jurors will be paid $40 a day instead of $15 a day, thanks to this year's Legislature.
Juvenile hearings on child and abuse cases in Clark County are now presumed open unless the judge or the master finds it would be in the best interest of the youngster to close it. Hearings in the rest of the state will remain closed unless a judge decides to open them.
A plan to create an intermediate court of appeals between the district courts and the Nevada Supreme Court won approval. It must be approved in 2005 and passed by the voters in 2006.
Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, especially liked the bill to restore the civil rights of ex-felons. "It will help a helluva lot of people," he said.
Lawmakers approved a bill enabling the Clark County School District to use bond money to replace 11 aging schools, including Rancho High School.
Legislators also worked to increase funding for higher education, marking a 40 percent increase in spending on programs from the last biennium.
"What we did with universities was a great step for the direction of higher education in this state," Assemblyman Josh Griffin, R-Henderson, said.
The Legislature also approved a performance audit of the University and Community College System of Nevada and created a committee to evaluate higher education programs. Both of those measures were sponsored by Perkins.
High school students will be required to have higher averages to qualify for Millennium Scholarships, financed from the tobacco settlement money. They also will have to maintain higher grades in college to continue to receive the scholarship.
But state Treasurer Brian Krolicki failed for a second time to convince the Legislature to let him sell off the tobacco debt at a reduced price and put the money in a more secure investment.
The Legislature also did away with the statewide ban on students having cell phones on campus. School districts will now be able to decide on their own policies.
Rawson said the Legislature paid "great attention" to the mental-health crisis in Southern Nevada, increasing funding to help relieve problems. For the disabled, Rawson said, "we were not able to fund everything, but we were able to head off lawsuits."
He said he was disappointed the Legislature "did not make more progress" on the medical malpractice issue.
"The people expected us to do more," Rawson said.
"The health care providers are really hit," he said. "Physicians will continue to leave (the state)."
Lawmakers could not agree on an alternative plan to Clark County doctors' initiative petition to tighten the medical malpractice law. That initiative will go on the November 2004 ballot.
Lawmakers tinkered with insurance laws related to medical malpractice. Doctors will now have a chance to intervene in any hearing on rate increases. A company that is pulling out of the state will have to give adequate notice, and an insurance firm cannot use losses in the stock market to justify a rate increase.
Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center failed in its efforts to gain extra money for treating poor patients. The Senate approved giving the hospital an additional $430,000 per year, but the Assembly killed that plan.
Health-related measures that passed included a new law that will permit consumers to buy cheaper prescription drugs. Unless the doctor specifies a brand name or the customer asks for it, the pharmacist will use a lower-cost generic drug.
Restaurants will be required to post signs warning women against drinking alcohol while they are pregnant, and a suicide prevention program was approved.
After a prolonged battle between the Assembly and Senate, pay for all elected county officials except commissioners was increased for the first time since 1995. County commissioners will be allowed to raise their own pay.
The Legislature also set in motion a proposed constitutional amendment to allow lawmakers to be paid for the full 120-day session instead of 60 days. It must be approved by the 2005 Legislature and then ratified by voters in 2006.
Lincoln County was able to push through a bill to create a water district that would enable them to contract with the private Vidler Water Co. for development of the resources.
An effort failed to delete the power of the state Ethics Commission to decide if a political candidate lied about his opponent. Foes of the present law called the commission "speech police," but supporters said it is the only way to correct a false statement during a campaign.
A measure to combine the treasurer and state controller offices failed, as it has in at least two prior legislative sessions.
Gaming measures
Lawmakers rejected a proposal to televise table games from a Las Vegas casino to England where bets would have been placed on the outcomes. Also nixed was a proposal to put $250,000 into a program for problem gamblers.
A change that did go through will affect casino workers, however. Casino work cards will be issued by the state Gaming Control Board instead of the counties.
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