It’s legislative do-or-die time for many bills

Monday, June 30, 1997 | 11 a.m.

Legislators haven't leveled differences in property tax bills paid by residents in various communities in Clark County - unless you consider $6-a-year cuts for Las Vegas and Henderson homeowners as a breakthrough.

Typical property tax bills in the two communities have been about $150 higher than in unincorporated Clark County.

Lawmakers haven't required the fluoridation of water in major cities, or passed a law allowing bikers to ride motorcycles without helmets.

They held no hearings into the cause of the longstanding Frontier Hotel strike in Las Vegas, and rejected a bill to provide more health care coverage for the poor.

Lawmakers will turn down a 5-cent-per-glass liquor tax to finance substance abuse prevention programs. And they'll fight off moves to lower the blood-alcohol content for an adult drunken driver to .08 from the current .10.

Other bills that are languishing or lost in the Legislature would:

-Allow collective bargaining rights to state workers.

-Abolish the Family Court system in Las Vegas.

-Allow the breakup of Nevada's school districts.

-Expand the number of justices on the state Supreme Court from five to seven.

The legislative session has been memorable for its efforts to improve the infrastructure in the Las Vegas Valley and education accountability and technology reforms, according to Gov. Bob Miller.

Assembly Transportation Chairwoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, would be happy in coming days if one bill stayed dead - the measure to allow motorcycle riders to ride without helmets.

She calculates taxpayers will pay a lot of unnecessary medical costs if motorcyclists ride without helmets. Her committee killed the bill once, only to have members try to revive it.

The biggest potential loser - or winner - in the final days of the session could be Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas. He has bills pending that would outlaw escort services, block the spread of neighborhood casinos in Las Vegas, allow the chemical castration of pedophiles and set up a program to keep sexual predators behind bars indefinitely.

But the future of his bills may depend on his ability to negotiate with Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks. His committee will hear most of James' bills and could request trades for other legislation.

Experience has taught Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus that no bill is dead until the session is gaveled to adjournment.

"Some of the things that look dead a week out suddenly are revived in the final hours," said Titus, D-Las Vegas.

But she figures her bill to outlaw horse tripping - a stunt popular in Mexican-style rodeos - will expire quietly in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

Despite the loss of well-publicized bills, Titus predicts the 1997 Legislature hardly will be remembered as a sleepy session that accomplished little.

She expects approval of a five-bill package that includes her ring-around-the-Las Vegas Valley bill to control growth.

Legislators also are poised to pass bills that potentially will earmark $100 million a year for school construction in Clark County and allocate a quarter-cent sales tax increase to pay for $2.9 billion in water and sewer system improvements.

"If we come out with the five-bill growth package, it will have been a tremendous session," Titus said. "And we also have campaign finance reform."

Already signed into law, the campaign finance reform bill ends secrecy in contributions to political candidates. With the new law, all sources of donations of more than $100 must be publicly disclosed.