Poll shows big support for limits on legislative sessions

Monday, Nov. 2, 1998 | 9:03 a.m.

The poll shows 65 percent of 817 likely voters surveyed support Question 5 on Tuesday's ballot. Twenty-one percent oppose it and 14 percent are undecided.

The poll was conducted over a three-day period ending Tuesday by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KTNV-TV, Channel 13. It has an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.

Support has grown since a late September poll, which found 56 percent supported the measure and 19 percent opposed it.

"I think it's a cinch," said Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington.

Dini and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, are appearing in commercials in northern Nevada on behalf of the measure.

Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, the majority floor leader, is appearing in ads supporting the measure in southern Nevada.

Dini said he supports the measure because sessions are taking too long and potential candidates can't afford to serve.

"The young guys go broke after 90 or 100 days," he said. "We need new blood, but people can't afford to take the job."

The only public opposition has come from Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who has said public access would be more limited with shorter sessions.

Shorter sessions will not save money, but will increase the influence of lobbyists and legislative staff, Titus said.

The measure was placed on the ballot by the Legislature. It would amend the constitution to limit sessions to no more than 120 days every other year, beginning in February and ending by May 31.

The 1997 session lasted 169 days and cost $15.5 million, making it the longest and most expensive in state history.