Legislative briefs for March 11, 2003

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 | 9:28 a.m.

Cegavske seeks school choice

Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, wants to give parents a choice of what school their children can attend.

Senate Bill 254 provides that parents submit, three months before the school year begins, a request to the local school board for the student to be transferred into another school

The board would have to approve the request. If there were more requests than available space for a school, then the school board would randomly select the students.

Cegavske's bill was sent to the Senate Human Resources and Facilities Committee for study.

Assembly passes death penalty bill

The Assembly approved the first of many expected attempts at death penalty reform on Monday by authorizing increased pay for defense attorneys in capital cases.

Assembly Bill 17, which was approved 37-3, sets the public defender rate at $125 an hour in death penalty cases and increases the total fee for such cases from $12,000 to $20,000.

The measure also calls for the establishment of a four-person team to handle a death penalty case in the event the public defender's office is not used. That team would consist of two attorneys and two other people deemed necessary by the court.

Assembly members Sharron Angle, R-Reno, Don Gustavson, R-Sun Valley, and Ron Knecht, R-Carson City, voted against the measure. Angle and Gustavson, who supported the bill in Judiciary Committee, expressed concerns Monday that the measure was an unfunded mandate on local governments.

Assembly members Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, and Wendell Williams, D-North Las Vegas, were absent.

The measure now goes to the Senate.

Changes sought in suit settlements

A bill was introduced in the Senate Monday to force court settlements and judgments involving a public hazard to be public.

Senate Bill 251, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, would prohibit a court from concealing a public hazard in a settlement or judgment. The bill defines public hazards as any device or product that is likely to cause injury or death.

The bill would exempt trade secrets and any information that is confidential under state and federal law.

A similar bill, submitted two years ago, was unsuccessful. SB251 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Help desk proposed for prescriptions

An Assembly committee unanimously approved a measure Monday that would establish a prescription help desk within the Office for Consumer Health Assistance.

Assembly Bill 236, sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, would allow consumers to obtain information about drug manufacturers' programs for free or reduced-cost prescriptions.

Buckley testified that some doctors know about the programs and others don't. The state help desk is designed as a one-stop clearinghouse for all drug programs and applications.

The desk would be staffed by current Office of Consumer Health Assistance staff and should not have a financial impact to the state, Buckley said.

The measure, which is among those given priority by the Democrats in the Assembly for early passage, cleared the Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously.