Anti-Yucca fund gets a push

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 11:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A state legislative committee pledged $3 million Wednesday to fight Yucca Mountain but only if the Gov. Kenny Guinn can find matching funds from local governments and private donors.

The Legislative Interim Finance Committee authorized $3 million in emergency funds to be used in an advertising campaign in other states to convince U.S. senators to vote against the selection of Yucca Mountain by President Bush.

But the committee accepted the suggestion of Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, that the $3 million must be matched with contributions from government and private sources. That does not include donations previously made to the state's fight, and the state money will be given as new donations come in.

The administration "hopes to raise a lot more" than $3 million, said Guinn's chief of staff Marybel Batjer.

She said Guinn, and U.S. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., are looking at some "non-traditional" sources, including Hollywood to raise the money.

The legislative committee's action, which passed by one vote among the members of the Senate on the committee, came amid the state's struggle to raise money for the fight against the proposed high-level nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Already the state has campaigned for donations from local governments and business and met with mixed success.

Much of the state's Nevada Protection Fund, which has a little more than $6 million, has already been accounted for with lobbying costs and attorney fees. Mark Brown, who is running the state's advertising campaign, said ads targeting the Senate in the Washington Post and Washington Times cost about $35,000, and a television campaign to kick off next week in Vermont will cost about $500,000.

A group of business leaders met earlier this week to discuss raising more money, Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, said this morning.

"I think it's going to be very difficult," Bible said, noting there's a "sense of inevitability" among some in the community.

"We do not believe that's the case, there's a possibility in Congress and there are merits in the court" challenges, Bible said. His group pledged $250,000 to help pay lobbying costs but recently found that number would be a little more than $300,000.

Neal expressed sentiment against spending money to fight the federal government.

"We cannot win the battle," he said. "It would be like sending me into the ring to fight Mike Tyson."

He said there were other pressing issues that the money could be spent on and the people would benefit more.

"We're throwing money down a rat hole," he said.

State officials have refused to give in and believe there is a chance the state could pull off enough votes to win in the Senate, and if not there, they say they have good arguments for their fight in court. The state, though, needs money to fight the nuclear industry, which is pushing Yucca Mountain with its considerable lobbying operation.

Batjer said today the governor and his administration are "beating the bushes," including looking to private foundations for money.

Reid and Ensign asked for $10 million for an advertising campaign to drum up grass-roots opposition to the dump. The idea is to put pressure on senators who represent states in which nuclear waste would be transported through.

Guinn declined to call a special session as there was mixed support in the Legislature, especially in the Senate. A Sun poll of senators at the time showed opposition to the special session.

Guinn instead went to the interim committee with a scaled back request.

The committee is made of seven senators and 14 Assembly members. Each side must approve the allocation. The vote on the Senate side was 4-3 with Sens. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas and Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Minden opposing spending the money. The Assembly members unanimously voted in favor.

The first major contribution from an individual came from Dorothy G. Lemelson of Incline Village who donated $75,000. Lemelson, widow of prolific inventor Jerome Lemelson, told the committee that "Storage of nuclear waste threatens us all."

And she told Guinn, who was seated next to her at the meeting, "I'm with you all the way." After the announcement of her donations, she received applause from those in attendance at the meeting.

Bob Loux, director of the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects, said his agency has been inundated with telephone calls since full-page advertisements appeared in Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City newspapers, asking for donations.

He said he doesn't have a firm count on how much as been donated but said there were "hundreds of calls." He believed most of the donations were small amounts adding up to "a couple thousand dollars." The state advertisements urged residents to give at least $1.

It now falls to opponents of Yucca Mountain to convince other governments, such as Clark County, the city of Las Vegas, private businesses and foundations to chip in more.

Local government officials say they are not sure how they will come up with additional funds.

Clark County commissioners will consider contributing $1.5 million to the fund next Tuesday, but local municipalities are skeptical they can pool $1.5 million more to meet the requirements of the IFC.

"You can't get blood from a turnip," North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon said. "We have been considering donating money, but the number we're talking about is around $50,000."

If the North Las Vegas City Council approves an expenditure of $50,000, the three large Southern Nevada cities will have earmarked $200,000 for the fund.

The city of Las Vegas will give $100,000 and the city of Henderson will appropriate $50,000 -- both when the new fiscal year begins July 1. Both cities are also considering additional funding. Much of the money already pledged likely won't be counted as matching funds because it had already been approved.

Las Vegas City Manager Virginia Valentine said she has briefed the council members on the issue, and on Wednesday they are set to discuss whether the city should put more money toward the fight.

City officials are in the midst of preparing the tentative budget for fiscal year 2003, which begins July 1, but Valentine said all signs show there isn't any extra money.

"This money would come out of another project, it would mean deferring some other project or some other expenditure," she said.

The council will have a budget workshop on Monday, and could allocate additional funds, Valentine said.

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said money is very tight for municipalities, and he is not sure how his city could come up with any more money for the fund.

"We're not in a position to do much in the first place, but we have given $50,000," Gibson said. "I'll be a little surprised if we can do much more."

Gibson said that while Henderson supports the fight, the support the state wants to see is a monetary one.

"The municipalities are in very difficult straits right now," Gibson said.

In the legislative committee's debate, Raggio said he was not sure that $3 million would be effective and suggested the matching grant condition. Guinn said he had no objection.

Half of the $3 million will come from the emergency fund of the finance committee and the other half will come from the fund of the state Transportation Department.

O'Donnell said the $3 million should be spent to convince Congress to give Nevada compensation for the work the Energy Department has already done and intends to do.

Guinn told the committee there are 32 Democrats and 3 Republicans in the Senate so far siding with Nevada. It will take 51 votes to stop approval. The governor said Vermont and Oregon are two of the states that are targeted.

Raggio, who was considered one of the swing votes in the Senate, said he was not convinced that the $3 million will turn the vote in the Senate. But he added, "If we don't try, we will be charged by people saying we scuttled the effort."

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, who made the motion to allocate the money said "Clark County is waiting to see what we will do. Clark County almost approved that last week. I don't think the rest will fail us."

Guinn also said that the state has already sued President Bush and others and will now launch two other legal suits this week. The state filed suit today against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, alleging the rule to license Yucca Mountain ignores the federal law that created the Yucca Mountain site.

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