Lawmakers get high marks for efficiency, but some ugly events occurred

Brendan Riley

Wednesday, June 2, 1999 | 2:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY - The 1999 Nevada Legislature gets high marks for efficiency and some forward-thinking measures. But the lawmakers also got black eyes for some of their antics.

The legislators passed a record $14 billion budget but raised no taxes, approved a big scholarship program for Nevada students, banned discrimination against gays in the workplace and made big changes in the state's worker compensation program.

They also deregulated electrical utilities, told insurers to sell policies for mental health coverage, and joined in an effort to give state workers a 2 percent raise - financed by reducing the amount of money they could have spent on "pork" projects.

That said, the buzz of the session was a powerful lobbyist's effort to pass a measure that could have helped him build a private pier at Lake Tahoe despite opposition from many of his neighbors.

The "Piergate" incident involving advocate Harvey Whittemore ended with the measure being stripped of provisions that could have helped him.

But along the way, an ambitious state senator, Mark James, R-Las Vegas, drew fire for helping to pilot the measure through his Judiciary Committee.

James and Whittemore even ended up on a mock movie poster advertising "Piergate" and the subtitle "Felony politically dumb."

Other low points included:

-Passage of a bill ensuring casino mogul Steve Wynn a tax break of at least $15 million on his $300 million-plus art collection, on exhibit at the Bellagio megaresort in Las Vegas. The break was granted even though legislators had been fretting about a lack of money for various state programs.

-Closed-door meetings by a core group of Nevada lawmakers to settle differences on budgets for public education, capital construction and even pet projects. That occurred despite an effort to post notices of public hearings and provide extensive information about meetings and bills on the Internet.

-Lawmakers passed and Gov. Kenny Guinn signed into law a measure deleting a requirement that lobbyists account for spending on individual lawmakers who show up at group events. The new law still requires lobbyists who throw group events to declare the total spent - but they won't have to name the lawmakers who attend.

-With virtually no testimony from experts, lawmakers rushed through a last-minute bill that ensures parents can spank their children - and erases official records of such incidents if they're not deemed to be abuse. Advocates argued that parents need to know they won't get locked up for disciplining their children. But critics maintained a record is vital to identifying abusive parents.

-In the "lame ideas" department, one lawmaker proposed that convicted drunken drivers put zebra-striped license plates on their cars. Another would have prohibited the use of hidden cameras. And after the killings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., lawmakers spent long hours working on a bill to ensure that people with concealed weapons permits can carry guns into various public buildings. Schools were included at first but later left off the list.