Friday, May 23, 2003 | 11:29 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Assemblyman Bob Beers is bragging he spent five hours crafting a response he offered to an Associated Press reporter this week about his no vote on removing the math portion of the proficiency exam.
"I think if we'd have had a math proficiency exam when Gov. (Kenny) Guinn was in high school, we wouldn't be in the budget problem we're in now," Beers told the AP's Ben Kieckhefer.
When several lawmakers told Beers they thought he probably regretted making the comment, he showed it off around the Legislative Building.
Beers, a critic of the tax plan, has been known for his fuzzy math this session, failing to understand that having an increase in revenues does not mean the state is operating in the black. He also appears to fail to understand that population growth and increases in welfare cases are driving the state's spending.
A recent e-mail shows Beers apparently doesn't understand religion either.
Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada sent an e-mail to lawmakers May 6 urging them to address that $704 million shortfall.
In the e-mail Schori said Nevada has relied on a tourist-based economy for too long. She also said that as a member of the Religious Alliance in Nevada (RAIN), she joins with other religious leaders in urging his support for a stable economic base.
Schori said Beers responded: "There's gotta be more Episcopalian Bishops besides you ... your opinion is pretty far out there and strikes me as an opinion of a woman with no taxpaying parishioners."
The e-mail, forwarded to the Sun, continued: "Sure seems to me an abuse of the Protestant flag ... do you have a church? Are there any other Bishops besides you? Are you suggesting that Episcopalianism supports exporting cash hand-over-fist to invest in Indian casinos and riverboats outside Nevada?"
As the sole bishop for the Nevada diocese, Schori oversees 35 Episcopalian churches with about 5,700 members.
When asked about the e-mail, Beers said: "I don't think I sent that."
The group replied to Beers Thursday, noting "The disdain that you showed, the flippancy, and disrespect are shocking ... We will pray for you that your faith will guide you to repentance."
More surgery on bill
The political wrangling over the medical malpractice issue continues with an expected move by Assembly Republicans to block an amended bill that many of their party members supported last week.
Senate Bill 97 was amended last Friday to offer voters an alternate choice at the ballot next November.
Initially the bill -- as amended in the Senate -- would have simply enacted the legislation sought by Keep Our Doctors in Nevada in an initiative petition.
The Assembly amendment will instead ask voters to decide whether the current malpractice law enacted in October 2002 is working.
Assemblyman Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, who voted for the Assembly version last week in committee, is now having "voter's remorse" and reportedly was going to ask his colleagues to vote against the amendment when it comes to the Assembly floor today.
Mabey, a gynecologist, will enlist the help of Assemblyman Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, a family practice physician, to drum up opposition to the amendment.
Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said the choice for Republicans is clear: keep the existing cap on jury awards or risk having no cap at all.
Buckley, an attorney who chaired the interim study of medical malpractice, said she believed courts would uphold the state's current $350,000 cap on jury awards for non-economic damages. The cap has a provision giving a judge the ability to waive the cap in cases of gross negligence. If the exemptions are removed -- which is the goal of Keep Our Doctors In Nevada -- Buckley said she believed a court would rule Nevada's law unconstitutional.
Patience tested
Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, is growing increasingly testy with two tax opponents in his caucus.
Sen. Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, objected to child welfare integration this week by suggesting she has never heard of a hybrid employee splitting time between the county and state.
Raggio cut her off, saying: "We've already done that in Washoe County for quite a while."
The exasperated Tiffany just huffed into the microphone.
Raggio wasn't as direct with Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, on a court assessment bill, but certainly made his point when Cegavske seemed not to understand the difference between criminal and civil proceedings.
"I've never been to court," Cegavske said in her defense.
A judge providing testimony on the bill suggested Cegavske should serve on a jury.
"Yeah, how about next week?" Raggio, a former prosecutor, asked.
Next week is the final full week of the legislative session.com
archive
