New state laws take effect with start of fiscal year

Monday, July 1, 2002 | 10:34 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State agencies receive an infusion of $1.9 million today, and their employees will receive a 4 percent pay raise.

The money comes with the start of the new fiscal year, which also will bring higher rates of travel allowances for state workers and the implementation of 16 laws passed by the 2001 Legislature.

The per diem allowance for state workers traveling on business increases today from $76 to $84 a day.

And among the new laws taking effect is one raising maximum child support payments by $8 to $13 a month.

The law ties the amount of child support to the Consumer Price Index, allowing it to be adjusted every year by the state Administrative Office of the Nevada Supreme Court.

For instance if a parent's gross income is $4,176, the maximum amount will rise from $500 to $508 per child. If the gross income is $14,816, the maximum payment would be $813, up from $800.

Hundreds of bills were approved last year but the Legislature staggered the start of some of them.

For example, Assembly Bill 214 ordered school districts to tighten the security in the handling of examinations. A section requiring the schools to set up training programs for those who handle the tests becomes effective today.

A worker injured on the job will be able to see "an alternative treating physician" under a new law. A permit to carry a concealed weapon will now apply to an unlimited number of guns, not just the former limit of two.

Companies will now be able to pay their business tax annually instead of quarterly.

A new law also takes effect on charter schools, allowing students at the schools to take part in distance education. It also exempts buildings used for charter schools from taxation.

Several of the bills make appropriations to agencies to buy equipment such as computers or software.