Legislative briefs for May 16, 2003

Friday, May 16, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

Federal school compliance OK'd

A bill to bring Nevada into compliance with a massive federal law to upgrade public schools was approved by the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.

Senate Bill 191 requires more testing of students, more attention to students who are not making progress and penalties for schools that fail to measure up, to meet standards of the No Child Left Behind Act.

It will require yearly testing in third through eighth grade by 2005-2006.

A spokesman for the committee said the federal government would provide money for the extensive testing but the state would have to pick up more of the cost for its improvement programs.

The Clark County School District presented an initial estimate that the annual cost to the district would be more than $70 million.

The bill goes to the floor of the Senate.

Bill advances on three-judge panels

A divided Assembly on Thursday voted to prohibit judge panels from determining sentences in death penalty cases.

Assembly Bill 13, which passed 26-16, eliminates a three-judge panel in cases where a jury cannot reach a verdict in the penalty phase of a capital case.

In those cases, the bill requires the judge to issue a sentence of life without parole. It also requires the district attorneys to report certain crime statistics to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, chaired an interim study of the death penalty and reported that since her committee finished its work, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that juries, not judges, must decide the penalty phase of death cases.

Assembly Bill 16, which passed unanimously, allows defendants sentenced to death to obtain genetic marker analysis of evidence related to their conviction.

Sales tax hike moves along

The Clark County Commission on Thursday was granted Assembly approval to hold hearings and authorize increases in the sales tax to fund $2.7 billion in transportation projects.

Senate Bill 237 authorizes the voter-approved Regional Transportation Commission measure for projects over the next 25 years.

The measure calls for a quarter-percent increase in the sales tax, a penny-per-gallon increase in the tax on aviation fuel and gradual increases in residential and business development fees.

The proposed funding includes $194 million for air quality projects, money to complete the Las Vegas Beltway, an expanded bus system, a light-rail commuter train and other projects.

SB237 now goes to the governor for consideration.