Guinn wants DMV out of red, into neutral

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety would be split in two under a recommendation proposed Thursday by Gov. Kenny Guinn's task force that is conducting a "fundamental review" of state agencies.

Don Hataway, deputy state budget director who is co-chairman of the task force along with Guinn's senior policy advisor, Denice Miller, said the division of the motor vehicle and public safety functions of the department would be "budget neutral," meaning it should not cost any more money.

This split has been recommended a number of times in the past but has never received approval from the Legislature. The task force will decide later on a detailed plan that would assign functions to each side.

The task force is going ahead with its recommendation despite the fact the governor has hired a new director, Washoe County Sheriff Dick Kirkland, to run the department, one of the biggest in state government.

The department includes the registration of motor vehicles, issuances of driver's licenses, the emergency management division, fire marshal's office, highway patrol, parole and probation division, Capitol police and the investigations division.

In announcing its first set of recommendations Thursday in Las Vegas, the task force also raised the issue of class-size reduction in the public schools' primary grades. Members discussed conducting a survey to determine if the results are worth the extra money the program costs.

Mary Peterson, the state superintendent of public instruction, said there has never been an in-depth survey of the 10-year old program, which is now costing $80 million a year.

A full-scale survey would look at the attitudes of the students toward the program and how well they do later on. She estimated the cost to be between $350,000 and $400,000.

The task force did not take any action on the survey.

The task force did, however, suggest that every agency review the Nevada statutes at least once every 10 years to eliminate redundant laws or those that are out-of-date and not needed.

In making this recommendation, the task force cited a 1935 law making it illegal for anyone to sell used mattresses, sheets or pillows without "thoroughly" sterilizing them and affixing a marker stating, "Sterilized, Secondhand."

Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-North Las Vegas, told the task force that it is hard to get a new law enacted and twice as hard to get something repealed.

Also, the task force recommended a tracking system in the award of grants to local governments and nonprofit agencies. Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, said there is no central source of information on how much a nonprofit agency or a local government may be getting.