Legislative briefs for June 5, 2001

Tuesday, June 5, 2001 | 10:08 a.m.

Call boxes OK'd for Interstate 15

An emergency communication system is going to be built along Interstate 15 from the California border to Lake Mead Drive, under a bill approved by the Senate Monday.

Assembly Bill 175 appropriates $500,000 for emergency call boxes for motorists who might have trouble. Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said the 1999 Legislature authorized the state Transportation Department to do the project but it never started. So this bill ordered the agency to construct the system.

The bill passed 21-0 and goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn for his signature.

District Courts to expand

Clark County is going to get three additional District Court judges starting in January 2003.

The Senate Monday gave final legislative approval to Senate Bill 137, which raises the number of judges in Clark County to 33, one of whom would serve Family Court. The three new posts would be filled at the November 2002 election.

The bill also increases the number of District Court judges in Reno from 11 to 12.

The bill goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Administrators to get big hikes

While most state workers will be getting a 4 percent raise this July and another 4 percent in July 2002, the top administrators in government will be getting bigger pay increases.

Assembly Bill 673, the bill for the unclassified state workers, shows an increase of 9 percent this year and 4 percent next year. Unclassified workers are those who don't enjoy civil service protection and they do not qualify for the nearly 5 percent step raises every year that classified positions receive.

Not counting doctors, Chairman Dennis Neilander of the state Gaming Control Board will be the highest paid state employee at $115,416 this July.

Overall, the bill shows the highest paid state worker, at $170,628, the medical program coordinator for statewide mental health services.

Salaries for those who head major agencies will rise to $103,301 this July.

The Legislature, at the suggestion of Gov. Kenny Guinn, decided to split the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. While the agency is divided in half, each of the directors will receive $103,301, even though there is less supervision required than before.