Rough start for Clark County at Legislature

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Clark County got shortchanged on the opening day of the Nevada Legislature Monday in the number of last-minute bills it can sponsor, but a Northern Nevada senator says the fears of the south are premature.

After pomp and ceremony, the Assembly and the Senate adopted new rules for the shortened 120-day session. Deadlines were set for introduction and passage of bills in order to complete business by May 31.

Limits were set on the number of bills that each lawmaker can request. But it permits the Assembly speaker and the Senate majority leader -- both from Northern Nevada -- to each have five extra bills for emergencies. The Senate and Assembly minority leaders -- one of whom is from the south -- would each have two extra.

The distribution means Clark County will have only two emergency bills, said Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, yet it's the largest and fastest-growing county in the state. Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, would receive the two extra bills.

The rest would go to Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno; Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington; and Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville.

Neal said he hoped the northern lawmakers would help Clark County if emergencies arise.

Raggio replied Neal's fears "are a little preliminary." The rules, he said, were not drafted to be "sectional or partisan" and they will be in effect for several years. Because of the short session, it is "more necessary to put petty differences aside."

Raggio said he would be fair but added that not every request for an emergency bill from Clark County will be honored. And there may have to be adjustments made as the session goes on, he said.

The new rules limit assemblymen to two requests for bills after the session begins. Senators may submit four. Twenty-six of the 42 assemblymen are from Clark County, and 13 of 21 senators are from Southern Nevada.

Bills must be submitted by Feb. 8 for drafting and they must be introduced by March 15.

Titus asked that partisanship and regionalism be put aside, as there were great challenges before the Legislature to complete within 120 days, something that has not been done in 22 years.

And she said despite the time limits, "We should not rush the people's business."

The 120-day limit, approved by the voters, is "not a long time" said Dini, noting "we have to do more in less time." The House, he said will be meeting on weekends "fairly soon."

Seventy-five bills were introduced in the Senate and 74 in the Assembly. The majority had been pre-filed before session.

Both houses passed without dissent SB1, a bill appropriating $10 million to pay the initial cost of the 1999 session, which is expected to cost between $12 million and $13 million.

A number of the Senate bills introduced Monday are aimed at upgrading the public schools. SB9 would reward teachers with extra pension benefits if they continued in at-risk schools. SB21 increases the penalty for leaking the questions on proficiency examinations to students. Both came from the Senate Finance Committee.

Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, sponsored SB41 to allow parents to choose which public school their children would attend. The Finance Committee introduced SB46 to allow school districts to pay higher salaries to teachers who achieve national certification.

SB50 by the Senate Human Resources and Facilities Committee would permit school boards to buy additional retirement credits for some teachers. And SB70 by the Finance Committee would allocate $4 million to pay for remedial programs for schools where students don't score well in national testing.