Schneider, Shaffer, Dini at top of lobbyist spending list

Brendan Riley

Thursday, March 18, 1999 | 4:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sens. Mike Schneider and Ray Shaffer and Assembly Speaker Joe Dini are at the top of the list of lawmakers wined and dined by lobbyists, who reported spending just over $8,000 during the first month of Nevada's 1999 legislative session.

An analysis by The Associated Press shows that lobbyists for mines, taxpayer and business associations and Nevada's two state universities in Reno and Las Vegas were the big spenders among the nearly 700 advocates registered for the session.

Schneider, D-Las Vegas, is No. 1 among lawmakers, taking $408 in food and drinks from lobbyists. But Schneider - also at or near the top in past sessions - isn't apologetic.

"I firmly believe that when different organizations come up and you have these receptions in the evening you should attend," he said Wednesday. "They are constituents and voters coming in from all over the state and it's part of the job to attend."

Schneider added that at the end of the session he'll write a check for whatever his total is and give it to a program for the mentally retarded in Las Vegas. He's done the same in past years.

"If anyone feels uncomfortable about this, well at least I'm up front about it," he said.

Sen. Shaffer, D-North Las Vegas, was second at $303 and Dini, D-Yerington, was third at $272.

Seven lawmakers have zeros after their names: Sens. Bernice Mathews, D-Sparks, Jon Porter, R-Henderson, Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, and Mark James, R-Las Vegas; and Assemblywomen Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, Dawn Gibbons, R-Reno, and Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas.

Porter says he takes nothing because of what he terms a "perception problem." He even printed cards stating he won't take any food or drinks from lobbyists.

The top-spending lobbyist was Bob Dickens of the University of Nevada, Reno, at $814 or 10 percent of all spending. The total works out to about $31 apiece for 28 lawmakers who went to a UNR "blue and silver" reception at the start of the session.

Dickens said the legislators were only a small part of a crowd of about 365 people at the event, which cost more than $10,000 and was funded by numerous corporate hosts representing interests ranging from banking to casinos.

UNR is working hard this session to ensure it doesn't lose out in a battle with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for equity in state funding.

UNLV lobbyist Rick Bennett was third in lobbyist spending at $727 - just $1 behind Carole Vilardo of the Nevada Taxpayers Association. Bennett says most of the UNLV spending was for tickets to a basketball game in Las Vegas.

The taxpayer's group represents many interests, ranging from individuals who oppose moves to boost their taxes to businesses concerned about the regulatory agencies that oversee them.

Vilardo said the money spent on lawmakers was part of the cost of putting on the NTA's annual meeting and dinner last month. Half the legislators ate for free and the others paid their own way.

Casino lobbyists were nowhere near the top of the list for February spending. However, casinos were heavy contributors in many 1998 legislative elections, and their high-powered advocates have a lot of clout during the session anyway, since they represent the state's dominant industry.