Legislative briefs for March 12, 2001

Monday, March 12, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

Commission urged for complaints

A bill that would create a seven-member commission to hear construction-defect complaints has been introduced by Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas.

The commission, to be made up of three contractors and four members of the general public, would have the power to order contractors to make repairs at their own expense if defects in the home were discovered. The contractor would have 90 days to do the work after the commission reached a decision.

The commission would not be bound by Nevada's open meeting law, according to Senate Bill 310, which was referred to the Commerce and Labor Committee.

Before a complaint could be filed with the new commission, consumers would have to provide two written notices of the defect by certified mail to the contractor and give the contractor a chance to make corrections. It would cost consumers $50 to file a complaint. Contractors would have to pay $350 when they answer the allegations.

Schneider proposes smaller schools

The Clark County School District would have to build a number of smaller schools, under a bill introduced by Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas.

Schneider said students who attend smaller schools tend to perform better on academic tests, suffer fewer social and behavioral problems and have greater opportunities for extracurricular activities.

Senate Bill 311, introduced Friday, calls for the district to build four elementary schools of no more than 300 students, four middle or junior high schools of no more than 550 pupils and four high schools of no more than 900 students. .

Bills propose stiffer penalties

Just one day after a high-profile DUI case in Las Vegas led to the conviction of a repeated drunken driver, two separate bills aimed at stiffening DUI laws were introduced.

Assembly Bill 315, sponsored by David Parks, D-Las Vegas, would increase penalties for a first and second DUI offense if the driver's blood alcohol content was 0.18 or higher. The current state limit is 0.10.

A first offense at 0.18 or higher would be classified a misdemeanor, punishable with a fine of up to $1,000, counseling and classes. A second offense within seven years would require jail time of between 45 days and six months and a fine of up to $1,000.

Assembly Bill 316, sponsored by Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, would designate any subsequent DUI as a felony.

On Thursday, a District Court jury found Clark Morse guilty on all felony counts in the March 2000 drunken driving accident that paralyzed Megabucks winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan and killed her sister Lela Ann Jay.

Morse had been arrested 16 times on DUI charges prior to the accident.

Manendo has another bill that would reduce the state's legal blood alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08. That bill is in committee.

Voters would have final say

The Assembly unanimously approved a measure Friday that would require voters to determine whether the Metro Police Department should be dissolved.

Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, sponsored Assembly Bill 202 to give voters a say in determining a consolidated police department's future. Bache said he sponsored the measure after Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald in 1999 tried to get the city to withdraw from Metro.

When that attempt became public, residents learned Metro could be dissolved simply by a vote of a majority of the City Council or Clark County Commission.

AB 202 requires any attempts to dissolve or withdraw from the department to be put to the voters during the general election. If voters approve such a measure, it would take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year.

The bill was referred to the Senate.

Safe haven bill approved by panel

A bill to give a parent an option rather than tossing an unwanted baby into a trash bin has been approved by the Senate Human Resources and Facilities Committee.

Senate Bill 191, which will be sent to the floor of the Senate for a final vote late this week or early next week, allows a parent to drop off a child under 30 days old at a police or fire station or a medical center without being charged with a crime, unless there is evidence of abuse. And the parent could not be questioned or detained after leaving the child.

The committee added an amendment to allow a parent to phone 911 for an emergency crew to pick up the youngster. The bill says parents, by giving up a child that way, also forfeit their parental rights.

Both conservative and liberal groups backed the so-called "Safe Haven" legislation.

In a recent case in Las Vegas, an infant was found in a trash bin. The parent has not been located.

Emergency power plants proposed

A bill that would appropriate $10 million to buy equipment to help pump fuel into Clark County has been introduced by Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas.

Coffin said Southern Nevada nearly ran out of fuel in January. "We were totally out of diesel fuel in the Southern Nevada pipeline," Coffin said. "We only had three days of jet fuel at McCarran Airport, gasoline supplies were down to a couple of days and Nellis Air Force Base's jet fuel was dwindling."

Senate Bill 309 would allocate money to the state to buy equipment to be placed along the pipeline route between Southern California to Las Vegas to provide an emergency power supply to the pumps that push the fuel into Clark County. Coffin said he did not think the full $10 million would be needed but said he was required to put a figure in the bill.

The power supply to the stations that pump the fuel is controlled by Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison and "is out of our hands," said Coffin, whose bill was referred to the Commerce and Labor Committee.

Committee will examine shortage

A select committee to examine the state's energy crisis is expected to begin work this week.

On Friday Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, named the committee's members, who were chosen by the legislative leadership.

Assemblyman Doug Bache, D-Las Vegas, will head the committee. Other members are Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas; Joe Dini, D-Yerington; Sheila Leslie, D-Reno; Roy Neighbors, D-Tonopah; David Parks, D-Las Vegas; Debbie Smith, D-Sparks; Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas; Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville; David Humke, R-Reno; and Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson.