Legislative briefs for Feb. 18, 2003

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 | 10:51 a.m.

Trip to Mexican prison canceled

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle has canceled a proposed March 1 trip to a Mexican prison amid questions of the program's merits and its ties to Scientology.

Angle, R-Reno, said opposition to her trip by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, gives her no reason to suspect any Democrats would support creation of such an anti-drug program in Nevada's women's prison.

"I won't be proposing the program here," Angle said.

Angle had received funding from Arizona Scientologist Randall Suggs to fly 35 legislators to Ensenada to view the Second Chance Program. The program uses massage, sauna and high doses of vitamins and minerals to detoxify inmates.

Buckley had warned Democrats not to go on the trip because, she said, testimony on the program when it was proposed in Arizona found that the Mexican prison did not accurately track recidivism rates.

She also said the program's $15,000-per-prisoner cost would be too expensive to implement.

Angle was only able to get two other lawmakers to agree to accompany her to Ensenada: Don Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, and Valerie Weber, R-Las Vegas.

No state senators and no representatives from any of the six constitutional offices agreed to go. Jackie Crawford, director of the Corrections Department, decided not to make the trip after concerns about the ties to Scientology were raised.

New bill on racial profiling urged

In the aftermath of defeat of a racial profiling bill, Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, has requested new legislation.

She said Monday she wants to continue collection of the data of racial profiling not only on traffic stops but also when a pedestrian is halted. She said the information gathered would include the identity of the officer, the time of the stop and the place.

The Senate Government Affairs Committee killed a bill that would have made racial profiling a misdemeanor. That prompted Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, the legislator who had introduced the bill, to criticize both Democrats and Republicans and he particularly hit at Titus.

Measure deals with jackpot payments

A person who wins a giant slot machine jackpot would be able to assign the rights of periodic payments to another individual under Senate Bill 134, which was introduced Monday.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, cited a conflict between Nevada law and the Uniform Commercial Code that permits the assignment of periodic payments. Care said he has talked with gaming officials who agree the Nevada law should be changed to permit a winner to assign his payments.

Legislature honors Lamb's work

The late Sen. Floyd Lamb, who died in June last year, was remembered in the Legislature as a man who had "rough edges" and "barked a lot" but was a caring and concerned person.

Senate and Assembly Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 memorialized Lamb who served 27 years in the Senate, first representing Lincoln County and later Clark County.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said Lamb was "cantankerous" and once kicked a newspaper reporter in the shins. But he said Lamb also helped develop University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Community College of Southern Nevada.

He said no event in Lamb's later life should detract from his accomplishments. He was referring to Lamb's bribery conviction, for which Lamb spent time in a federal prison.

Some old laws would be sheared

The Assembly voted unanimously Monday to get rid of an old law that makes it illegal to shear sheep within city limits.

Legislative staffers couldn't figure out why the law existed, and included it in Assembly Bill 10, a measure that gets rid of various antiquated laws including a law dating to the early 1900s that prohibits people from pasturing livestock in an enclosed private or public cemetery.

The bill would also remove from the state's lawbooks the misdemeanor offense of refusing to get off a telephone party line immediately upon learning that the line was needed for an emergency. Such phone lines no longer exist.

Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, sponsored the proposal, which came out of an interim study on categories of misdemeanor offenses.

Premiums' link to credit targeted

Assembly Democrats are proposing a bill to block insurers from boosting rates of Nevada drivers based on bad credit records.

But the plan will be opposed by insurance company lobbyists who see a link between bad credit and bad driving. Most insurers consider credit reports when determining insurance premiums.

Insurance industry studies show that people who are irresponsible with credit or don't pay their bills could become poor insurance risks, lobbyist said.