Tight schedule for reapportionment in 2001 session

Brendan Riley

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 9:50 a.m.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - Nevada lawmakers will have less time but better tools when they reapportion legislative and congressional districts during the 2001 session.

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, chairwoman of a panel studying reapportionment, said Wednesday that legislators won't have final U.S. Census figures until March 2001. They must have their reapportionment work done by session's end on June 4 of that year.

In 1991, when redistricting last occurred, lawmakers did not adjourn until the end of June.

Given the tight time frame, the U.S. Census Bureau will be asked to rush Nevada's population numbers to the Legislature as soon as possible. Many other states' legislatures are making the same request.

Bob Erickson, the lawmakers' research chief, said new computer software will allow district lines to be redrawn in a day or two. A decade ago, the process took about two weeks.

The census numbers are used to redraw district lines to reflect population shifts and growth. In Nevada, the biggest gains were in the booming Las Vegas area, which is projected to have just over 2 million people - nearly 70 percent of Nevada's population - in 2000.

Rural areas are likely to see continued shrinking representation.

Now, rural Nevada is represented by just two of 21 senators and four of 42 Assembly members. That could drop to one Assembly member and one senator representing a half-rural district comprising part of the Las Vegas area.

An alternative would be to increase the size of the Legislature, possibly to 25 senators and 50 Assembly members. All of the new members would represent Las Vegas-area districts.

The federal government projects Nevada's 2000 population at just under 1.9 million. The state will qualify for a third congressional seat.