Measure to fund roads in California passes Senate

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 10:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, a critic of the casino industry, says passage by the Senate of a bill to allow Clark County money to be spent on highways in California shows how much the gambling business dominates the Legislature.

By a 14-5 vote, the Senate Thursday approved Senate Bill 363 to permit Clark County to use some of its road construction bond money to improve a section of U.S. 95 that leads into the gambling resort of Laughlin on the Colorado River.

Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson, said Laughlin contributes $38 million in tax revenue to the state. And this section of U.S. 95, known locally as the Needles Highway, needs to be improved to keep tourists coming to Nevada, Porter said.

He said the state can't use fuel tax money for a California highway project. The money, he said, must come from local government. Clark County has a $200 million transportation bond for road projects and money is set aside for the Needles reconstruction.

Neal said there are schoolchildren in Clark County without books and parents are being asked to pay for some programs. Yet this bill would permit money to flow to California.

"How come the gaming people cannot build this road?" Neal asked. "The Legislature should not be in the business of building a road in California for gaming."

Neal added that passage of this bill proves that "gaming runs this Legislature."

There are bad roads in Clark County that should be fixed, rather than spending the money in California, Neal said. He objected to spending $15 million on the California road.

Assembly Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said in view of the downturn in the economy, Nevada money should not be spent in California.

But Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said this money was an "investment in our future" in helping business in Laughlin. And Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said he would vote for the bill and objected to being called a "puppet of gaming."

Voting against the bill in addition to Neal were Democrats Titus, Terry Care and Valerie Wiener of Las Vegas and Maggie Carlton of North Las Vegas.