Guinn, Jones have similar philosophies

Scott Reeder

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 12:19 p.m.

The candidates for Nevada governor, Democrat Jan Laverty Jones and Republican Kenny Guinn, are not presenting voters with a choice between vastly differing philosophies.

Jones herself acknowledges that the two are not that far removed from each other when it comes to most issues.

"Kenny is a moderate Republican. I'm a moderate Democrat," Jones said. "We have business backgrounds. I guess you could say we are both middle-of-the-road candidates."

Some differences show up when it comes to social issues -- Guinn is moderate and Jones, who is mayor of Las Vegas, is more liberal.

Both candidates support abortion rights. Guinn, however, takes a more conservative view, calling for requiring parents to be notified when a minor has an abortion.

Jones, on the other hand, is opposed to requiring parental notification.

"It sounds like a good idea when you first hear it," she said. "But so many of these pregnancies are caused by incest that it really isn't a good idea."

Both Guinn and Jones support lowering the state's drunken-driving blood-alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08.

"I support lowering it because I don't think you can just be a little bit drunk," Jones said.

Guinn and Jones also have similar education-reform packages.

Guinn's plan is heavy on discipline, calling for sending students who bring weapons or illegal drugs to school to a state-run boot camp. His plan also calls for giving more autonomy to local school administrators by cutting back on state mandates, such as teacher/pupil ratios.

Instead of state mandates, Guinn proposes having each school district establishing measurable goals, such as graduation rates, which the districts would work with the state to achieve.

Jones is calling for giving teachers more authority on deciding whether disruptive children should be removed from their classrooms and placed in a disciplinary setting.

Jones advocates the medicinal use of marijuana.

Guinn, on the other hand, says he will support legalization only if the American Medical Association endorses its use and it is distributed strictly by prescription.

During her speech with the Nevada AFL-CIO convention last month, Jones called for allowing state workers to collectively bargain, saying it is fundamentally unfair to exclude those workers from rights others are allowed.

But Guinn is opposed to collective bargaining for state workers.

"The problem with that is that the governor doesn't have the final say," he said. "I could negotiate a contract and then go to the Legislature and they might reject it. That would create a situation where people thought we had been negotiating in bad faith."

Both Guinn and Jones say they would oppose any legislative efforts to close the state's legal brothels.

"Nevada really doesn't have a prostitution problem," Jones said. "It's not legal here in Clark County. In rural areas, it is something to be addressed on a local level. It's really not a state issue."

Gov. Bob Miller says the state will be in good hands with either Guinn or Jones.

But he says he is supporting fellow Democrat Jones, who has been Las Vegas mayor for seven years, because she has more experience in elective office.

Jones is calling for managing urban growth by offering a 10-year, 75 percent reduction in property taxes for businesses that opt to build in "smart-growth areas."

This would be a way the state could encourage developers to build in areas that have been skipped over as cities have grown, she said.

But Guinn countered that it is unfair to existing businesses to offer tax breaks to potential competitors. He added that since urban growth is much more an issue in the Las Vegas Valley than it is in the state as a whole, it should be addressed on a local rather than a state level.

The tone of the campaign has turned ugly during its final month, with both candidates launching attack ads accusing the other of not being truthful about their records.

Both candidates say they support significant health-care reform.

Guinn and Jones agree Nevadans should be able to sue health-maintenance organizations if they believe necessary health care was denied them. They also believe Nevadans should be able to select any physician willing to provide care under a provider's plan.

Jones wants to create an ombudsman, whom Nevadans could contact if they believe HMOs or insurance companies are violating their rights. This person would serve as an advocate for patients with the governor's office and the Legislature.

Guinn, however, believes this is an unnecessary additional layer of government.

Neither Guinn nor Jones say they have any plans to raise the state's tax on gaming -- one of the lowest in the United States.

"We have the most competitive gaming environment in the world right here in Las Vegas," Jones said. "Other places that have gaming are in more of a monopoly situation. It doesn't make any sense to raise taxes on an industry with that kind of competition."

According to the last campaign disclosure report filed Aug. 24, Jones received about 20 percent of her donations from the gaming industry and Guinn received 30 percent from the casino industry.

Jones said she would support a measure to sanction same-sex marriages within Nevada.

"I've always thought that if two people love each other they should be able to get married," she said.

Guinn is opposed to altering state marriage laws.

Guinn is calling for reforming the state ethics laws governing public officials.

His plan calls for increasing the fines and penalties when officials are found guilty -- with felony convictions for the most serious offenses. If the state Commission on Ethics believes a crime has been committed, it would refer it to a prosecutor.

Guinn's plan also calls for all elected officials to sign a code of ethics, which would clarify what constitutes an ethics violation. He also wants more legal staff provided to the state Ethics Commission.

Jones says she supports these measures, too.

"Elected officials must be held accountable for their actions, period," Guinn said. "I believe my three-point plan closes forevermore the loopholes some politicians have crawled through to escape legal action."