Calm, compromise asked on insurance bill

Friday, April 30, 1999 | 12:02 p.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's bill on workers' compensation, which touched off a bitter Republican-Democrat feud in the Senate, should find calmer waters in the Assembly.

Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said today he disagreed with the tactic of the Senate Republican leadership not to allow debate on Senate Bill 27, which turns the state's insurance system for injured workers into a private company.

"I just don't feel it's appropriate to cut off debate," Perkins said. "If they've got something to say, let them say it. If we can't win on the merits, then our position is not as strong as it should be."

The Senate, convening shortly after midnight today, passed SB27, 12-6-3. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, did not allow debate. After the vote, Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, rose to complain about stopping debate. As he was talking, Republicans left the chambers.

Neal then used a parliamentary procedure that required the sergeant-at-arms to gather up the missing members and bring them back to chambers. Three Republican senators and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt were awakened from their sleep and returned to the Senate where routine business was conducted with Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, in charge.

Perkins said he thinks a compromise can be worked out on the bill. He said organized labor and Guinn were close to an agreement Thursday before the Republicans pushed the bill through in the Senate.

The compromise proposal, Perkins said, calls for raising by 10 percent the benefits of injured workers on permanent partial disability, allowing the workers in the new private company to unionize, and a state fund for employers who may not be able to get insurance coverage when competition arrives July 1.

He said he tried to get Raggio to agree to the plan, which is backed by organized labor. But Raggio turned him down. So the first thing the Assembly will consider is the labor-backed amendments, Perkins said.

Republicans hold a 12-9 majority in the Senate. Democrats control the Assembly 28-14.

"Occasionally in this process, you get accused of partisanship," Perkins said. "We have always tried to accommodate the minority."