Many measures from 1999 Legislature not taking effect July 1

Tuesday, June 29, 1999 | 9:33 a.m.

Some are immediate, others are tied to the July 1 start of the two-year budget cycle, and still others require time for the affected industry or state agency to prepare.

To that end, dozens more bills approved by the 1999 Legislature and signed by Gov. Kenny Guinn are pegged to starting dates in October, January and beyond.

They include:

-PAY HIKES: A 2 percent salary boost for 16,000 state workers will take effect on July 1, 2000. Given limited available money, lawmakers made the raise effective only in the second year of the biennium.

-CONTRACEPTIVES: A requirement that contraceptive insurance coverage be offered on existing prescription policies begins on Oct. 1.

-HOLIDAYS: The change to a three-day Nevada Day weekend, making the official Nevada Day on the last Friday in October, takes place in 2000.

-MENTAL HEALTH: The mandate for mental-health insurance coverage for Nevadans for six major illnesses begins on Jan. 1, 2000.

-GAY RIGHTS: Added protection against job discrimination based on sexual orientation doesn't apply to offenses committed before Oct. 1, 1999.

-SCHOLARSHIPS: Millennium scholarships, $2,500 a year to universities and $1,250 a year to community colleges, will be available to high school seniors with a minimum B grade average beginning with the spring 2000 graduations.

-SENIORS: Health care programs for low-income seniors, children and the disabled, used with money from the national tobacco settlement, begin on July 1, 2000.

-RENTERS: Added legal protections for renters begin on Oct. 1, 1999.