Special session will be 18th in state’s history

Friday, July 5, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn's decision to call the Nevada Legislature into special session will cost a minimum of $100,000 and the price could escalate depending on the length and number of issues.

This will be the 18th special session in Nevada's history. And it will be the first time in nearly 40 years that there have been two special sessions between the regular biennial meetings of the Legislature.

Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said Wednesday the planning has started and added it "is nice we have a few weeks" before the lawmakers show up.

Guinn has said he will convene the session for medical malpractice sometime after July 26. Malkiewich is looking at a session between July 29 and Aug. 9. But he doesn't have any firm date to work on yet.

The start-up costs will be $70,000 to $80,000 and about $30,000 a day if the session is short. But if there are added issues and no agreement on malpractice, the costs rises to $100,000 for start-up and $50,000 a day for the added staff.

Malkiewich does not foresee hiring personal secretaries for all the lawmakers.

But he said there may have to be additional committee staff if more than one issue is put on the agenda.

There is no limit on the length of a special session but the lawmakers get paid only for the first 20 days. Lawmakers receive $130 a day salary and $85 per day for expenses. The per diem extends the full length of the time they are in session.

Lawmakers are paid 36 cents per mile up to $1,000 for travel during a special session. They receive $60 for postage, $300 for telephones and an additional $64 if they are head of a committee or in leadership.

Malkiewich said he will send a letter to the Clark County Commission that two vacancies exist. Republican Sens. Mark James of Las Vegas and Jon Porter of Henderson have both resigned. Malkiewich said he hopes the county commission could consider naming the replacements at its July 16 meeting.

Guinn will be the first governor since the late Grant Sawyer to convene two special sessions between the biennial meetings of the Legislature. Guinn called one last year to deal with reapportionment and with bills not passed during the regular session.

Sawyer in 1965 convened one for reapportionment to comply with a federal court order that both houses of the Legislature must be apportioned according to population.

In 1966, Sawyer called a special session for a variety of reasons, including increasing aid to public schools, buying undeveloped land at Lake Tahoe; to obtain a loan for construction of construction of a student union building at Nevada Southern University which is now UNLV; to increase foster home payments and provide more money for the prison and mental health systems.

The special sessions called in recent years have lasted one or two days. The shortest on record was slightly more than two hours in 1989 when legislators repealed the 300 percent pension increase they gave themselves during the regular session.

Some sessions have lasted 20 days.