Miller defends veto of pool bill

Art Nadler

Thursday, July 24, 1997 | 9:14 a.m.

Gov. Bob Miller is sticking by his veto of a bill that targeted unscrupulous swimming pool builders.

Assembly Bill 512 would have, in part, reduced down payments paid to builders, required that soil studies be done in some parts of Clark County before digging, provided written statements on start and finish dates and supplied information on possible liens by subcontractors.

"The bill was hastily written," Miller said Wednesday at a reenactment of Legislature bill signings in Las Vegas. "I don't think any contractors testified."

Miller said the soil erosion component was "overblown," and he felt the payment program for various stages of construction needed to be more carefully drawn up.

AB512 was supported by the State Contractors Board and numerous consumers who fell victim to two swimming pool companies that went bankrupt within the last two years.

Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, sponsor of the bill, said soil studies would add $200 to the construction cost of a swimming pool, but the National Spa and Pool Institute of Las Vegas said it would be $2,000.

Miller agreed with the NSPI, and said the added costs would cause some swimming pool companies to go out of business.

Kim Gregory, chairman of the Contractors Board, said that might be good in eliminating some shady swimming pool companies.

"Every other contractor in the state takes money out of his pocket and waits to get paid," Gregory recently said.

Miller blamed homeowners' problems on the Contractors Board for not doing its job.

Gregory, at past Contractors Board meetings, said the board was hampered by law as to what it could do.

"This was a situation where we really needed this (law)," Gregory recently said. "This law would have protected consumers the most. We backed everything in it."

The governor was visibly upset that Lee had criticized his veto.

"Mr. Lee can have his opinion," Miller said. "This is the first time someone (in the Legislature) has criticized my decision in public."

Although Lee was not available Wednesday for comment, the day after Miller vetoed his bill, he said:

"People with more money than the consumer were able to make a case to the governor. Maybe from day one we never had a chance, not knowing who had the influence in the executive office."