Lawmakers sticking to schedule

Cy Ryan and Scott Reeder

Tuesday, April 20, 1999 | 12:05 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Legislature cleared its second major hurdle Monday, approving about 75 bills on topics from ethics to growth.

Monday was the deadline for each house to pass bills it originated. The Senate approved nearly 60 bills and the Assembly passed more than 15.

Left undone and in effect dead for this session were measures that would have restored voting rights to ex-felons, kept California teams from winning Nevada state championships and required Senate confirmation of the governor's appointments.

Lawmakers imposed the deadlines on themselves this year after voters last November limited the session to 120 days.

By May 14 all Assembly bills must be approved by Senate committees, and Senate bills must have votes in Assembly committees.

Budget bills are exempt from the deadlines, and bills that have been amended are given extensions.

Addressing ethics

Gov. Kenny Guinn's ethics package was one of the bills to clear the Senate Monday afternoon.

Senate Bill 478 calls for overhauling the Nevada ethics law, increasing penalties for errant public officials and enlarging the state Ethics Commission.

The commission would be expanded from six to eight members and be allowed to hire an executive director to supervise investigations and set up hearings.

"This is really a bipartisan bill," Guinn said. "We sought input from people in both parties as well as from local elected officials. This bill is a major improvement."

The bill defines what type of relationships represent a conflict of interest for elected officials.

It would be a conflict for public officials to vote on an issue directly affecting an individual who is a member of or is like a member of their family, as well as their employer, a member of their household or a business associate.

The current law says only that elected officials may not vote on issues involving "friends."

"If someone is such a close friend that you consider them to be like a member of your own family. Then I guess that would be a conflict. But otherwise it would not be," Scott Scherer, the governor's legal counsel, has said.

Guinn's proposal calls for maximum fines of $5,000 for the first offense, $10,000 for the second offense and $25,000 for the third and subsequent offenses.

Public officials who are fined would have to pay from their personal assets, not campaign contributions.

Better planning

The Senate also endorsed two measures that address growth and planning in Southern Nevada.

Senate Bill 436 would place the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition into the law books.

The group was formed earlier this year through an interlocal agreement among Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and North Las Vegas.

The group is charged with developing long-term comprehensive plans for dealing with growth in the Las Vegas Valley.

"What this bill basically does is gives the coalition more credibility," said Phil Rosenquist, assistant director of Clark County's planning department.

"People will know now that the coalition is here to stay and may give it more credence."

The bill also changes the format of the coalition's governing board. The interlocal agreement called for having four citizen representatives on the board in addition to representatives of each government. The legislation eliminates the citizen positions.

Senate Bill 394 would require local officials responsible for planning, pollution control and transportation to communicate better.

"This bill doesn't require that they take specific action. It just requires them to keep each other apprised of what they are working on," Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill, said.

"This has not been happening. You have them working at cross purposes."

The bill covers the Regional Transportation Commission, the Clark County Health Department and the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, said the legislation dovetails nicely with overall efforts to improve communication among groups dealing with the effects of rapid population growth in Southern Nevada.

Contractor rules

Both houses also addressed growth from another perspective -- the quality of new homes.

The Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 423 to require those who want licenses as residential contractors to submit documents to show they are financially solvent.

In addition, contractors would not be able to have bonds they must post to the state Contractors Board released unless they have been in business for 10 years and had no substantial complaints for the previous five years.

Current law allows bonds to be released after five years in business.

For unlicensed contractors who are caught, a third offense would be raised from a gross misdemeanor to a felony with a fine of up to $10,000 and up to four years in prison.

A home builder, under the bill, may issue a warranty to cover construction defects up to one year and any structural defects up to 10 years.

The Assembly approved 41-1 Assembly Bill 633, upgrading the qualifications of those who want to be contractors.

It would require applicants to have been a journeyman, foreman or supervising employee for four years before getting a contractor's license.

Applicants now need only be a workman for four years to qualify.

The bill also would raise fees from $300 to $450, and the cost to submit an application from $300 to $500.

Assembly Bill 634, passed unanimously Monday, would give the Contractors Board authority to establish a special investigations unit.

The board would have the jurisdiction to get criminal records from other agencies for their investigations into the background of those who want to be contractors.

The executive director would be given the power to issue an administrative citation telling the contractor to make corrections on a home or commercial building or to impose a fine if there are violations of regulations.

Unfinished business

Left in the dust without any floor vote was Assembly Joint Resolution 6, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have automatically restored voting rights to ex-felons.

The Senate left on its desk Senate Bill 489, which initially sought to bar California schools from winning high school championships in Nevada. It was amended later to provide that two trophies be awarded if a California team won. But it never came to a final vote.

Senate Bill 160 to require Senate confirmation of the appointments of the governor never got to a final vote in the Senate. Neither did Senate Joint Resolution 16, a proposed constitutional amendment to create a state bank. It has been introduced at least two times in the past. This time the Senate did not take a vote on it.

The next major event in the Legislature comes April 29, when the Economic Forum makes its new prediction on how much money is available for the upcoming two- year state budget. Both the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee have been conducting extensive hearings on requests from a variety of groups that want more state money. But the money they seek is outside Guinn's proposed balanced budget.