Tuesday, June 3, 2003 | 11:17 a.m.
SUN CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- While the 63 legislators failed by 1 a.m. to pass a tax plan, they took care of plenty of other business in the waning days of the 2003 session.
Bills passed that would require a university system audit, establish a telemarketing do-not-call list, give county elected officials a raise and create criminal laws targeting terrorism.
Other measures that would raise the car rental tax in Clark County to pay for improvements to Cashman Field, a Culinary Training Center and a performing arts center downtown died for lack of action in committee, as did a proposal to give Sunrise Hospital money for providing indigent care.
Bills that passed
Assembly Bill 148, sponsored by Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, calls for a performance audit of the University and Community College System of Nevada.
AB148 will also include an examination of teacher workload, under an amendment added by the Senate. The Assembly concurred in the amendment and sent the bill to the governor Monday night.
The Senate Monday approved Assembly Bill 203, providing $250,000 to evaluate if the school is meeting the educational needs of residents and to identify the areas of high priorities that should be met.
The study committee composed of senators, assemblymen, members of the board of regents and three appointees of Gov. Kenny Guinn will also examine if the money is being effectively distributed at each campus.
The bill was introduced by Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson who earlier pushed through a bill to require an audit of the system.
Do-not-call legislation in Assembly Bill 232, sponsored by Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, survived a session-long battle with Senate Bill 255, a rival do-call registry.
Under AB232, the state attorney general will have the ability to penalize companies that violate the wishes of residents who put their names on a federal registry for those who don't want telemarketing calls.
The conference report was adopted by both the Assembly and Senate on Monday night.
Certain provisions of the bill take effect beginning Jan. 1.
Assembly Bill 23, which originally included raises for county district attorneys and sheriffs, was amended in the Senate to include raises for other county elected officials. County commissioners were not included in the bill, as the state's constitution allows those officials to set their own salaries.
Under AB23, the Clark County sheriff will get a 59.84 percent raise, increasing his salary from $84,000 to $134,263. The Clark County district attorney will get a 54.51 percent raise, from $100,800 to $155,745.
The Clark County assessor, recorder, treasurer, clerk and public administrator will each get a 26.65 percent increase, the same rate state workers have increased their salaries since 1995.
County elected officials have not received a raise since 1995.
What didn't pass
Senate Bill 509, which included the school aid money, also had the tax plan rolled into it and never received a vote in the Senate.
Senate Bill 508, which would have allocated $226 million for keeping class sizes small in the primary grades, died in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
It had been approved by the Senate 20-1 with Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, dissenting.
Senate Bill 191, which puts the state in line with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, also never emerged from the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
It is needed to qualify for federal funds to do increased testing and evaluation of the school system.
But Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, said he thinks Gov. Kenny Guinn will put that on the agenda of a special session to be called to develop a tax plan.
Assembly Bill 554 permitted a 2 percent increase in the car rental tax. The first $3 million raised would go towards construction of Culinary Union Training Arts Center.
After that, 1.5 percent would go toward refurbishing Cashman Field and 0.5 percent would be used for development of a performing arts center on the 61 acres adjacent to downtown. The Legislature also included in its spending authorization bill $250,000 for the design of the performing arts center
Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, sponsored the measure after a similar bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, supported a car rental tax increase in Washoe County.
The bill arrived in the Senate with about 20 minutes left in the session. It was referred to the Senate Finance Committee but never made it out of there. Rawson said there was not enough time to process the bill.
The Assembly Monday approved Assembly Bill 482 that apportions $66 million to University Medical Center each year and a slightly less than $1 million to Lake Mead Hospital.
Mike Alastuey, a lobbyist for Clark County, said University Medical Center contributes about $53 million a year and gets back $66 million for a net of $13 million. The bill also distributes money to Washoe Medical Center in Reno and to rural hospitals.
The Senate had approved a bill that would have given Sunrise $180,000 a year plus an extra $350,000 annually from the state's general fund. Sunrise said it treats the second largest number of indigent patients in the state.
But the Assembly, by a 41-0 vote, balked at giving any money to the private hospital.
archive
