O’Donnell hospitalized: Longtime LV representative complained of chest pains

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, was rushed to the Carson-Tahoe Hospital today after complaining of chest pains.

O'Donnell, who has been in the Legislature since 1985, was in his office and conscious when paramedics arrived. He was wheeled out of the building on a gurney.

Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said every session there are health problems involving a lawmaker. It usually occurs toward the end of the session when there are long hours and intense pressure, he said.

O'Donnell, 50, served in the Assembly in the 1985 session and then moved to the Senate in 1987. He is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee and a member of the committees on finance and government affairs.

Earlier this week his plan to add 129 employees to the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety to shorten the long lines in Las Vegas was voted down in the Senate.

O'Donnell had touted the plan as the solution to the extensive waits that customers face in registering a car or getting a drivers license.

This week, he also resurrected a bill to set the behavior pattern of cab drivers and limousine operators.

The bill also would restrict the number of limousines that could be allowed in Las Vegas. That bill had been defeated earlier, and he held a hearing Thursday on the measure.