Familiar faces, new challenges lie ahead

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The first Legislature of the new millennium will be filled with familiar faces and will tackle new challenges and some persistent problems.

Education, health and taxes top the issues that 63 lawmakers will face when they convene Feb. 5. But reapportionment, which could shift more political power to Southern Nevada and force out some lawmakers from rural areas and Washoe County, also must be dealt with.

Gov. Kenny Guinn will give his State of the State address Jan. 22 and will unveil his $3.74 billion budget. He has promised a new look with new priorities rather than just increasing spending by 3 percent to 5 percent a year.

Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, will continue as Senate majority leader since Republicans maintain a 12-9 voting edge. Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, takes over as Assembly speaker, replacing political warhorse Joe Dini of Yerington. Democrats hold a 27-15 majority in the lower chamber.

For the first time, a woman -- Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas -- will be Assembly majority leader.

Also for the first time, three women will hold the top leadership positions for Senate Democrats: Dina Titus of Las Vegas will be minority leader, Bernice Mathews of Reno will be her assistant and Valerie Wiener of Las Vegas will be whip.

An estimated 800 people are expected to register as lobbyists -- paid and unpaid -- for the 120-day session.

More than 1,100 bills have been requested so far, and Lorne Malkiewich, Legislative Counsel Bureau director, expects that number to increase by several hundred. He hopes at least 500 bills will be ready for introduction in the first week. Those delivered in the first week must be introduced in the session's first 10 days, according to rules adopted two years ago.

"There will be plenty of work for the committees when they arrive," Malkiewich said. In the past, some committees were idle until bills arrived several weeks into the session.

And there should be fewer bills than in 1999. Malkiewich said the lawmakers have cut the number that local governments and state agencies can request.

An extra 200 people will be added to the current Senate and Assembly staffs, which number less than 20 off-session. They will serve as committee staff members and act as personal secretaries for the lawmakers. In addition, the counsel bureau brings in about 70 extra workers for security, janitorial work and to staff the bill and mailrooms.

This session should cost $12.5 million to $13 million, Malkiewich said. In 1997, before the 120-day limit, the cost was $15.5 million for the 169 days.

Lawmakers will receive $130 a day salary which ends after 60 days. There is a per-diem allowance of $85 a day for the full 120 days. In addition, $6,800 is the maximum allowed each lawmaker for travel, including moving furniture to Carson City and trips home.

For the first time, there is a $473 a month housing allowance for those who live more than 50 miles from Carson City. Lawmakers also get a telephone allowance of $2,800 and $60 for postage. Committee chairmen receive another $900 for expenses.

This session should be able to get off to a fast start since there are only three freshmen, all in the Assembly: David Brown, R-Henderson, and John Oceguera and Debbie Smith, both Las Vegas Democrats. They will receive training Jan. 22 and Feb. 1-2, including mock floor sessions and committee meetings.

Reapportionment

"Each session has its own personality," said Perkins, who is the first speaker from Clark County since 1983.

While many issues are the same, they will have a "different spin. And reapportionment gives this session a different flavor."

Clark County has 13 of the 21 Senate seats and 26 of 42 in the Assembly. Because of its explosive population growth, Clark County will control more seats after reapportionment, giving Southern Nevada the power to override any veto.

The issue that is dividing the Legislature now is whether to expand.

Perkins wants to keep the size the same, eliminate some districts in the north and send them south. Rural and Washoe County lawmakers favor expanding the number of seats so that districts don't become so big it would be impossible for a single person to cover them. And the rural legislators say they need to keep bodies out in these sparely populated areas.

Raggio says he hopes the reapportionment can be accomplished within the 120-day session.

"I'm not going to participate in this if reapportionment is used as a leverage or hostage for other issues. That won't happen in the Senate. If we don't get it done, we will have to ask the governor to call a special session."

During the last reapportionment in 1990, Democrats controlled both chambers and the Governor's Mansion. "They (Democrats) had exclusive control. We termed that 'the Session from Hell,' " Raggio said.

This time Republicans control the governor's seat and the Senate. "There will have to be some give and take," Raggio said.

Lawmakers will not only carve up legislative districts but will divide the state into three congressional districts. Nevada gained a third seat in the U.S. House after the 2000 Census. That seat is expected to go to Southern Nevada.

There also must be new districts drawn for the state Board of Education and the University and Community College System of Nevada.

For the first time since the 1989 session, legislators will deal with an initiative petition that must be approved or rejected in the session's first 40 days. The Nevada State Education Association, the teachers union, wants the Legislature to enact a 4 percent tax on business profits.

In 1989 the teachers union also presented an initiative petition on a corporate income tax, but it was shelved. A compromise was reached, but voters in 1990 defeated that plan.

If this session rejects the business tax, it will go on the ballot in 2002.

A group of businesses has asked the Nevada Supreme Court to declare the teachers' petition invalid. A hearing is set for two days after the session opens.

Guinn's plan

The governor has made pay raises for state workers a priority -- something both Perkins and Raggio agree on.

"We can't continue to have a swinging gate of people (state workers) going to the counties," Raggio said. "Particularly, we're losing too many people in parole and probation and corrections" to counties where salaries are higher.

In addition to pay raises, Guinn said his other priorities are education and health. He has talked about raising grants to foster parents, bolstering mental-health spending and taking care of the elderly in nursing homes.

Raggio said the state must address health and mental-health programs that have waiting lists for services.

One issue expected to take center stage is the state college in Henderson -- a pet project of Perkins. The regents put it on their wish list, but Guinn said he has not included any money for it in his budget.

Perkins said he hopes to get the governor to reconsider. Guinn admits it's a worthy project and said the regents, if they want, can adjust their budget to include it within present spending limits.

Guinn is including enough money in his budget to continue class-size reduction programs in the primary grades in public schools. Raggio said he wants money to continue programs to enhance educational standards, and fund professional development centers for teachers and remediation programs for at-risk students.

"We don't want to let kids pass the third grade without being able to read fully," said Raggio, who has been a major proponent of educational reform.

Perkins said he wants to see programs to encourage more parental involvement in schools. He supports training for illiterate parents to help them understand the system and the needs of their children.

Other major issues include construction defects and electric deregulation. Both had extensive hearings in the 1999 Legislature, but the bills that passed failed to stem the tide of criticism.

A compromise on construction defect reforms passed in 1999 with the support of lawyers and builders. But the controversy continues, centered in Las Vegas, where the fast growth of new homes has not eased.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said he will sponsor legislation to make it easier for building companies to repair problem homes rather than have the disputes end up in court. And the work may never get done, Schneider said.

A group of contractors also wants an overhaul of Nevada's lien law. The revision is being pushed after flaws were discovered during a fight for over $300 million in mechanics liens filed against the Venetian hotel-casino. Subcontractors complained they were not paid for their work.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, has a measure to repeal the deregulation bill. Assemblyman David Humke, R-Reno, called deregulation "a poison pill" and said it would not be implemented for several years under current conditions.

Another bill to be considered would make it tougher to break up the Metropolitan Police Department.

Perkins says currently a majority of either the Las Vegas City Council or the Clark County Commission could split the police agency. He is working on a bill that would require either a public vote or an agreement by both governmental bodies before deconsolidation could be accomplished.

Guinn, who has all his priorities in his proposed budget, says he is not seeking any new taxes. But the teachers' initiative petition is expected to make that a topic of discussion. Raggio is lukewarm to any new taxes but says raising revenue may become a reality later.

Wild card

And with all the other business, there are still personality issues.

Dini, who has been speaker since 1987, has developed a working relationship with Raggio despite their different parties. Whether Perkins meshes with Raggio will be answered by the end of the session in June.

Perkins worked closely with Republicans in 1995 when the Assembly was divided 50-50. Both sides had a give-and-take attitude.

Filling out the leadership in the Senate, where Raggio has been majority leader since 1993, are Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, assistant majority leader; Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden, president pro tempore; and Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, and Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, co-whips.

The rest of the Assembly leadership is Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, speaker pro tempore; David Parks, D-Las Vegas, assistant majority leader; Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, majority whip; and Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, and Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, assistant majority whips.

Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, has been re-elected minority leader; Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, is assistant minority leader and Greg Brower, R-Reno, and Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, are minority whips.

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