Big push enables lawmakers to end short 120-day session

Brendan Riley

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 7:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada lawmakers adjourned the 1999 session just minutes before a midnight Monday deadline, deciding some of the most important legislation at the very end.

The last bill passed by the lawmakers was Gov. Kenny Guinn's Millennium Scholarship trust fund - the highlight of his state of the state speech in January.

The plan uses part of the national tobacco settlement to pay state college tuition for every Nevada high school graduate with a 3.0 grade point average.

But the legislators killed a bill that would have generated as much as $28 million for Nevada health care needs. The Senate shelved the bill, AB685, directed at Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Nevada which merged in 1996 with Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Colorado. Blue Cross lobbyists opposed the plan.

Also passed in the late going was a controversial charter school measure, and an $18 million "pork" bill funding various special projects requested by individual lawmakers.

The legislators also approved a 2 percent pay hike for state employees. Guinn faced a revenue shortfall for his first budget as governor, and had not planned on pay raises at first. But he had promised that he'd change his mind if the state's economy showed an upturn - and it did.

A day earlier, the legislators passed a $14 billion-plus state budget to cover the next two fiscal years. They had met well into the night throughout the 3-day Memorial Day weekend to conclude their business. The Assembly adjourned at 11:42 p.m. The Senate followed two minutes later.

Their efforts were accomplished in 120 days - a voter-mandated limit that compares with the 169 days that the 1997 session lasted. The limit was imposed by voters last November.

Supporters say the time limit has forced legislators to focus on big issues and get things done faster. But opponents say there hasn't been enough time to allow people to debate the issues fully.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio - who backed the change - says it also has saved taxpayers about $2.5 million. The last session cost a record $15.5 million.

Other last-minute action by lawmakers included approval of a measure to regulate mortgage companies; a bill requiring insurers to cover some mental illnesses and a bill allowing people with concealed gun permits to take weapons inside public building, except schools and airports. The gun bill also allows out-of-state permit holders to carry their weapons in Nevada.