Legislators brace for session on reapportionment

Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000 | 10:30 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The 2001 Legislature doesn't start for a year, but there's already talk about having a special session just to handle the sticky issue of reapportionment.

A legislative committee Monday discussed how reapportionment -- which means changing the boundaries of political districts because of population changes -- would be treated during the 120-day regular session that starts Feb. 5, 2001.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she has heard rumors Gov. Kenny Guinn may decide to convene a special session for reapportionment.

"I hope we don't do that," Titus said. "A special session is not a good idea."

But Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, disagreed with Titus.

"I don't know if we will have enough time," he said of the regular session. The 2001 Legislature would be the second meeting limited by law to 120 days.

While he doesn't prefer a special session, Dini said lawmakers from rural Nevada need time to speak to their constituents. In his case, he has to cover three counties.

Guinn spokesman Jack Finn said the governor is "open to that possibility" of a special session and said Guinn "wants to see all the census data and other information before making that decision."

The governor is the only one authorized to convene a special session, whose maximum time would be 20 days. The last special session was in 1989 to repeal the 300 percent pension increase the legislators voted themselves.

Reapportionment would have a heavy impact.

There is talk that Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas in Nye County, would be combined with a legislative district in Clark County.

Because Nevada's representation in the U.S. House will be increased from two to three, a new district will have to be carved out in Southern Nevada.

The Legislature will be revamped, with Clark County getting more seats. Reapportionment will also hit the state Board of Education and the regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada.