Next legislative session will have plenty of hot issues

Brendan Riley

Monday, Jan. 1, 2001 | 9:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Judging from the load of hot issues confronting the 2001 Nevada Legislature, lawmakers will have to run pretty much nonstop from early February to early June.

Reapportionment is at the top of a long list facing the lawmakers, who are allowed to meet for only four months every other year. Also high on the agenda are a big tax plan pushed by Nevada teachers, utility deregulation and a $3.74 billion, two-year budget that Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn will propose in his Jan. 22 state-of-the-state address.

And many more complex, controversial proposals are in the works, including measures that deal with election law reforms, annual legislative sessions, higher casino taxes, internet gambling, a proposed nuclear trash dump at Yucca Mountain, medical marijuana, the death penalty and government reorganization.

The bottom line, incoming Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, says, is "an extraordinary legislative session, with redistricting as well as a number of very important issues that must be addressed in 120 days."

Because of the heavy workload during the session - which starts Feb. 5 and concludes June 4 - there's already talk of holding a special session later just for the thorny reapportionment issue.

The revising of legislative and congressional districts to account for population growth comes around every 10 years - inevitably accompanied by partisan wrangling despite preliminary promises to work together.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, has mentioned a special redistricting session as a possibility - although some key Assembly Democrats don't like the idea.

Democrats hold a 27-15 majority in the Assembly. The Raggio-led Republicans have a 12-9 margin in the Senate.

For now, the stated goal is to get everything done in the scheduled 120-day regular session. And to do that, the lawmakers and their staffers have been preparing for months.

The legislators' budget experts have been working closely with the Guinn administration and the state's Economic Forum to estimate revenue needed to balance the budget.

Interim subcommittees began meeting soon after the end of the 1999 session, taking testimony and collecting suggestions for the 2001 session to consider.

And the lawmakers' bill drafters already have prepared hundreds of measures for introduction once the session opens.

Despite the advance work, the legislators will be hard-pressed to meet the June 4 adjournment deadline that's set by state law.

What else can they do to save time? One suggestion was to cut down on the number of windy speeches and time-consuming ceremonies during floor sessions.

But that seems almost impossible considering the interminable gabbing that takes place during floor sessions and committee hearings.

The 21-member Senate's old nickname, "The Hall of Winds," tells it all - and few would argue about extending that moniker to the 42-seat Assembly.