Legislature receives new money requests

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2001 | 9:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Requests are starting to flow into the 2-day-old Legislature from Southern Nevada for a piece of the $300 million surplus to finance local projects.

Bills were introduced Tuesday to allocate at least $13.5 million to a variety of programs in Clark County. The money isn't included in Gov. Kenny Guinn's budget.

The largest request came from North Las Vegas, which wants $4 million in each of the next two fiscal years to develop the El Camino Real Cultural Center.

Assembly Bill 68 and three other appropriation bills were introduced by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, headed by Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas.

AB66 wants $650,000 in each of the two coming fiscal years to go to North Las Vegas to support the Nevada Partners program, whose aim is to prepare the unemployed and the underemployed for jobs.

The committee sponsored AB70 to send $2.95 million to the Las Vegas Housing Authority to build affordable housing for senior citizens. The bill calls for $2.1 million for construction of 150 one- and two-bedroom units with elevators at the 11th Street site in Las Vegas.

In addition $450,000 would be set aside for water connection for 82 water connections for 82 existing pads at the Rulon Earl Mobile Manor and connection for 58 new pads to be built. The bill would provide $350,000 to pay for staff, materials and supplies for five years for senior citizens living at these locations.

Another bill, AB67, calls for $1.5 million for the Clark County School District to buy a Web-based educational system that would deliver instruction to pupils and information for professional development to educators in 10 schools in the district.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, introduced two appropriation bills. SB78 would allocate $800,000 to the Life Line Family Education Center in Clark County. The center helped 22,000 people in 1999 with vocational and educational training and supplied food, clothing and housing.

SB79 gives $150,000 to the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County to buy buses.