Democrats fill out leadership team for Assembly work

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Democrats, with a majority of 28-14, have filled the leadership and committee chairmanships mostly with the same old faces.

But there are some surprises. Assemblyman Bob Price of North Las Vegas, who has headed the Taxation Committee for at least the last five sessions, is being replaced by David Goldwater of Las Vegas.

Majority Leader Richard Perkins of Henderson is stepping aside as chairman of the Commerce Committee and will be succeeded by Barbara Buckley of Las Vegas. Buckley, a third-termer, was vice-chairwoman in 1997.

Buckley will also continue as assistant majority leader.

"Some of the older people are giving way so the young people can come up," Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said. Dini and Perkins huddled Wednesday to select the remaining leadership and committee assignments for the 1999 session.

The Labor and Management Committee is being abolished; its chores will be taken over by the Commerce Committee. Dini said Commerce has a "broader spectrum of experience" with people in management and labor. And he predicted the committee would be "pretty neutral."

Named to the other leadership positions were Jan Evans of Sparks as speaker pro tempore; Wendell Williams of Las Vegas as majority whip; and David Parks of Las Vegas as assistant whip. Evans and Williams held the same positions in 1997, and Parks succeeds Sandi Krenzer of Las Vegas, who did not seek re-election.

Seven of the 10 committees will be headed by lawmakers from Clark County.

Morse Arberry of Las Vegas will return as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee; Williams will head Education; Chris Giunchigliani of Las Vegas will be in charge of Elections, Procedures and Ethics; Doug Bache of Las Vegas will be chairman of government affairs; and Vonne Chowning of North Las Vegas will head Transportation.

The Infrastructure Committee, established in 1997 to handle the growth problems of Southern Nevada, has been eliminated.

Other returning committee chairmen are Bernie Anderson of Sparks on Judiciary, Marcia De braga of Fallon on Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining and Vivian Freeman of Reno on Health and Human Services.

"We have a strong team," Dini said. "And there's a good quality of freshmen, including some of the Republicans."

Because the Democrats hold a larger majority than in 1997, they will occupy more seats on the committees. For instance, the Ways and Means Committee, which was divided 8-6 two years ago, will now have 10 Democrats and four Republicans.

The other major committees of Judiciary and Government Affairs will have a 9-5 Democratic majority, a wider split than two years ago.

Dini was unanimously elected earlier this month as speaker for an eighth time. And he chose Perkins to be his majority leader again.