State lawmakers ready for fiscal push in capital

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Congress' summer recess has ended and Nevada's lawmakers have returned to Washington to continue work on a variety of legislative priorities before adjourning for the year.

With the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, both chambers will be busy trying to finish all 13 spending bills, which will funnel federal money for various programs in Nevada for the next federal fiscal year.

Only four of them have made it through the House and Senate, with five others waiting just for a full Senate vote. Included in those five is the Senate Energy and Water spending bill, which would fund, among other projects, the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain project, where the DOE aims to store nuclear waste about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The House approved its version of the bill with $765 million for Yucca, a $174 million increase over the administration's request. But the Senate will decide if the level pushed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., of $425 million is better. Reid is the top Democrat on the Senate committee that controls the project's funding, but he also strongly opposes the project.

The difference will be worked out in a conference committee before going to the president. It is unclear when the Senate bill will go to the floor.

Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said the lower Yucca funding is one of his top priorities, along with getting a "decent" energy bill passed and education funding.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the senator will focus on getting his Lake Tahoe preservation legislation passed. Spokesman Jack Finn said the bill, unveiled at Lake Tahoe last month, would send an estimated $30 million to protect the lake's water and ecology. The money would come from public land sales in Clark County.

Ensign will also concentrate on a bill he introduced earlier this year to encourage U.S. companies to bring foreign assets back to the states. The bill would allow U.S. companies with foreign holdings to bring them back with only a 5.25 percent tax as opposed to the 35 percent tax that now stands.

Finn said this could bring an estimated $400 billion to the nation's economy, if not more, since this would bring in new jobs now held overseas. He added the additional savings in taxes could not go to executive salaries but instead must go to workers.

Passing a Medicare bill, including the prescription drug plan, is also a priority.

"The problem has just been debated for too long," Finn said.

Speaking with reporters Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., noted there were only 12 working legislative days in September before the end of the fiscal year.

"There is a lot of work left undone, and very little time to it," Daschle said.

A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the goal is to finish all appropriations bills by Oct. 1, while also working on the energy bill and prescription drug benefits.

Other issues such as medical malpractice reform and confirmation of judicial nominees, including Bankruptcy Judge Robert Clive Jones, a Las Vegas residents for U.S. District Court, also need Senate approval.

The House, only two spending bills need a full approval, including the transportation spending bill, which members started to debate on Thursday.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., also predicted a mid-October adjournment, adding that it means there is a lot of work to do in a short time.

Despite the short time frame Berkley will focus on a laundry list of items from education to veterans' benefits.

Berkley wants to add money for dropout prevention to the No Child Left Behind Act. She said the bill "in theory is a wonderful piece of legislation," but because Southern Nevada "has one of the highest dropout rates in the country," the fact that dropout prevention was eliminated is unacceptable.

As for Medicare, she said the House passed a "horrendous bill" that would leave some seniors choosing between paying for prescription drugs or their rent and food.

Berkley said also will be watching the overall spending levels for veterans benefits, since the bill is short almost $2 billion. A lower level pushed Southern Nevada even further behind the rest of the country than the current deficit.

She will also work on getting a 50-acre site for the new veterans hospital to be built in Las Vegas.

As for the transportation reauthorization bill, all-inclusive legislation that gets passed every six years, Berkley said the bill may just get a short-term extension versus passing an entire new bill.

She said projects such as Interstate 15, Interstate 215 and the monorail need funding. The continuation of current funding levels would be fine for "no-growth communities," she said, but not for Southern Nevada.

Berkley also aims to get fellow House members to visit Las Vegas in November to get a "better feel" for the area's need and to learn more about gaming, Yucca Mountain and water issues.

During the final months of his first year in Congress, Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., will focus on a Back to Work Incentive bill, which is part of the president's economic plan. If approved it would allow long-term unemployed workers to receive $3,000 for job training, moving expenses or transportation to help them gain employment. Those who find a job in about three months can keep the balance.

Porter will also push for a bill that prohibits education funding to states that do not complete interstate background checks for teachers and provides federal help for states to set up such a system.

"The House did most of its legislative heavy lifting before the August break," Porter spokeswoman Traci Scott said.

Scott noted that while everything may not get done before adjournment, work done during the final weeks lays an important groundwork for next year.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., will focus on a number of bills before the House Resources Committee, which he serves as vice chairman, spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.

Spanbauer said he wants to get his geothermal energy bill through the committee and passed. The legislation aims to simplify the federal geothermal leasing rules and boost geothermal development. Nevada is one of the top states for potential geothermal development.