Nevada’s lawmakers will stay busy in ‘off year’

Friday, Jan. 4, 2002 | 9:39 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Legislature won't meet this year, but there is work to be done.

Lawmakers, for example, are guiding committees focusing on problems such as suicide in Nevada, the death penalty and DNA tests for convicted criminals, taxes, government contracts and child welfare services.

Because the Legislature is limited to 120 days every odd-numbered year, study committees take on added importance.

Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, for example, is heading a study into suicides in the state.

O'Connell's committee, which has met once in Las Vegas, convenes a second time in Carson City Feb. 1.

"(Suicide) is probably the most serious health issue we've got," she said. O'Connell said Nevada has been first or second in the nation in suicides during each of the past 15 years.

In 1998, the latest figures available, 404 Nevadans took their own lives. However, O'Connell said many elderly people who commit suicide are not reported in that category, so the true number is not known.

There's been a lot of research on the problem, says O'Connell, yet no direction on treatment options.

"We're anxious to get programs available."

"The shocking thing to me is that people, and this is mostly men, who have seen a professional commit suicide within six months," she said. "We've done a poor job in detecting the symptoms."

The information has to reach the "front lines" -- teachers, doctors, scout leaders and ministers "who have the opportunity to talk to those who are mentally down."

A study into the death penalty and DNA testing among inmates has garnered the most attention, as efforts to abolish capital punishment or ban executions of the mentally retarded stalled during the most recent legislative session.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who heads the committee, said she doubts she can gain a consensus on abolishing the death penalty. Still, she said she would focus on reforming capital punishment, in particular stopping death sentences for juveniles or the mentally retarded.

The U.S. Supreme Court this year is expected to hear arguments regarding whether states should be barred from executing mentally retarded persons.

Leslie's committee will meet Jan. 24 in Las Vegas. Members will examine whether a disproportionate number of minorities are being sentenced to death.

In mid-December, for example, 43 white men were on death row in Nevada; there were 34 blacks, including one woman, and seven Hispanics.

Since 1977, nine men have been executed -- eight whites and one Asian. No black has been executed in more than 50 years in Nevada.

Leslie has set aside one session to discuss DNA testing. There have been at least 75 men and women who were convicted of crimes nationwide and later cleared by DNA testing, according to a legislative resolution creating the study.

The U.S. Department of Justice had set aside $500,000 for local governments for DNA testing, but pulled back the money after Sept. 11.

The resolution says obtaining a DNA sample from a prison inmate costs about $100, and the study committee should consider making it available to inmates "in appropriate cases."

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, who heads the Legislative Committee for Local Government Taxes and Finances, says his group will "focus on a broad area of issues."

Committee members will examine the $3.64 property tax limit, which is $3.64 per every $100 of the assessed value of a home. Some rural counties are already at the limit, yet still face financial troubles. Some local governments have suggested that restriction be raised to allow for additional revenues.

Some counties want to take a fresh look at the automatic schedule of home depreciation, which is one-half percent for as long as 50 years. As the value goes down, so do property taxes.

Parks' committee will also be studying the distribution of taxes among counties, as well as costs of building and maintaining streets and highways.

At the same time, Gov. Kenny's Guinn's task force on taxes will be looking at ways to head off a possible $1 billion shortfall in state tax revenue during the next eight years. Parks said he is "confident there will be a lot of cooperation," between the two groups, and they would come up with "similar conclusions."

The committee meets Jan. 11 in Las Vegas.

Another committee will examine the competitive situation that exists between private business and local governments, focusing on University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, who heads the committee, says some doctors in Southern Nevada complain that UMC is setting up Quick Care emergency facilities, which critics say unfairly compete with private industry.

Until the past few years UMC has approached the Clark County Commission for an appropriation of millions of dollars, said Schneider, whose committee meets Jan. 23 in Las Vegas. However, now that the hospital is operating more like a business, those subsidies are not needed, he said. Consequently, taxpayers are saving money, he said.

Also heading a committee is Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. She said her committee, focusing on youth and family, will oversee the integration of child welfare services between state, Clark and Washoe counties.

She said a study found 30 percent of severely disturbed children in Nevada never receive treatment and that the Legislature provided enough money to alleviate this problem, she said.

The committee, Buckley said, also wants to evaluate the outcome of this treatment, and it will watch to ensure that children are not separated from their brothers or sisters when being placed in foster homes.

The committee, which meets Feb. 14 in Carson City, will also work to ensure counties make an effort to recruit good foster parents for these children.

In addition, a committee studying categories of misdemeanors will play host to its second meeting Jan. 25 in Las Vegas. The health care subcommittee, which will study development of a system for reporting medical errors, will meet Feb. 11 in Carson City, and a committee studying incorporation of towns holds its second meeting March 25 in Pahrump.

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