College money left off special session agenda

Monday, June 11, 2001 | 10:52 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, appears to have gotten the short end of the stick as the Nevada Legislature convenes in special session Thursday.

Gov. Kenny Guinn is calling the lawmakers back to take care of reapportionment and to re-approve 23 bills whose legality is in question, but he said he won't put the issue of appropriating $1 million for the startup of the Nevada State College at Henderson on the agenda.

Guinn also has rejected the plan for a legislative audit of the University and Community College of Nevada, a proposal that was also advanced by Perkins.

The Legislature will meet Thursday to draw Nevada's three congressional districts and state offices and to re-approve 23 bills that were passed in the final hour of the regular session last Monday. Because the final hour came after midnight, there is a question whether the legislation would be open to legal challenge.

Perkins led the charge for the Henderson college and got money for construction of the first classroom building, plus costs for opening the school next year. But Assembly Bill 518, which included money to start hiring staff and faculty later this year, died in the closing hours of the session.

"We will have to get our heads together to see how we will proceed," Perkins said. One possibility is to raise private money to get started. Or the university might be able to arrange some funding. "I'm going to leave it up to (Chancellor) Jane Nichols and the board (of regents)."

Assembly Bill 26, which sought an audit of the university system, also failed in the final hours and won't be on the agenda. Perkins had been critical of the way the system has been run. He said, however, there are other ways to get a financial examination.

He can ask the Legislative Commission to order an audit of the system without legislation.

Perkins and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, met with Guinn before his announcement of the time and topics on the special session agenda.

Both said they would meet again in an effort to reach a compromise on a reapportionment bill. No time has been set for negotiations, but "We're going to get together to see if there is some middle ground," Perkins said.

Raggio said he hoped an agreement could be reached before the special session so it could be quickly ratified.

The sticking point during the regular session was the shaping of the three congressional districts. Both parties agreed on districts for incumbents Shelley Berkley, a Democrat, and Jim Gibbons, a Republican. But they split on the new district Nevada received after the 2000 Census. Republicans wants an even split on GOP-Democrat voter registration, but Democrats insisted on a 51-49 percent edge.

Both sides tentatively agreed to expand the Legislature, with the Senate growing from 21 to 23 seats and the Assembly increasing from 42 to 46 members.

The governor will submit 23 bills at the special session for a second approval. They were passed between midnight and 1 a.m. during the regular session, after legislators found a loophole in the state Constitution to continue their work after the mandatory adjournment.

The session was supposed to end at midnight, but the state Constitution says final adjournment must come at midnight Pacific Standard Time. Nevada is now on Daylight Saving Time, so lawmakers said they had an extra one hour to process bills.

Some legislators said the move left the legislation open to court challenges.

The governor has served notice he intends to be firm and not allow any more bills to be submitted other than the 23 that were processed by both houses in the final hours of the Legislature.

Guinn told a news conference that if lawmakers try to amend any of the 23 bills, he will veto them. And save for one or two, he will not include any item on the agenda that did not pass both houses.

"They have got one day," Guinn said in limiting the session. He said he has a legal opinion that he can restrict the time the session meets. The Constitution does not expressly give the governor that authority.

Perkins and Raggio both pledged to work together before the session to come up with a plan to redistrict the three congressional seats, the Legislature, state Board of Education and the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada.

Besides the Nevada State College at Henderson and the university audit, other bills that won't be on the agenda include a pay increase for state and county government elective officials and the Legislature, and legislation to toughen the requirements for casinos to locate near residential neighborhood.

The bills were not passed by both houses on the final day of the session.

"The reason we're being very selective and very hard-nosed is to make sure there are consequences for not getting the people's work completed," Guinn said. "If there are no consequences, then what's to lead to this process not being finalized the next time?"

The Nevada Constitution limits the regular session to end on the 120th day of the session.

One of the major bills to be returned is Assembly Bill 460, which would allow the state to recover $23.6 million over the next two years that would have gone to auto rental firms. This money is part of the 6 percent tax the companies collect on rentals. The money would help pay for schoolteacher salary increases.

Other bills that will be submitted for a second approval include Assembly Bill 661, a major energy measure that permits big casinos and mines to seek cheaper rates from outside the present electric system; a bill increasing salaries of teachers who gain national certification; $5 million to make sure school programs such as the arts, music and athletics are not cut; and a bill integrating the state's child welfare system with Clark and Washoe counties.

Guinn's list also include Assembly Bill 615 to allow voters in 2002 to decide whether to issue $200 million in general obligation bonds for conservation and natural resource projects; Assembly Bill 669, permitting big casinos to haul liquor between their clubs without using a liquor distributor; Senate Bill 142, delaying for two years the requirement that high school seniors have to pass a science examination; and Assembly Bill 424, calling on the state Transportation Department to conduct a study with Clark County on the need for sound walls along U.S. 95 from Charleston Boulevard to Russell Road and with the city of Las Vegas on U.S. 95 through Las Vegas.