No laptops for state lawmakers

Thursday, May 30, 2002 | 9:42 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers in the 2003 Legislature will have to make do with two-year-old computers.

Recognizing the tight financial straits of the state, a subcommittee of the Nevada Legislature decided Wednesday against buying a new laptop computer for each legislator in the next session, which begins in February, and agreed instead to upgrade the present models.

The Legislative Commission's Information Technology Subcommittee Wednesday also shot down a recommendation that lawmakers be given Palm Pilots -- handheld computer devices.

In past years the Legislature has decided to get rid of the two-year-old models and buy new laptops for the lawmakers. But this time, the subcommittee will upgrade the memory chips in each laptop and install network cards to enable the units to communicate more efficiently with the mainframe computer in the Legislature.

This should cost about $150 per machine rather than $1,000 or more per new unit.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, suggested legislators be provided Palm Pilots, which he said would be much more portable as the lawmakers move around the building.

But Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, said the mini-computers have serious limitations.

"If you have a laptop and this," he said, holding up one of the devices, "you will almost always go to the laptop."