Conservation League rates six legislators perfect

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 9:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Six state legislators, five of them from Clark County, achieved perfect scores in voting on environmental issues in the 2003 Legislature, the Nevada Conservation League said Wednesday.

The league for the first time compiled a scorecard for the Legislature on such things as increasing fees for conservation projects and stopping increased commercial zoning around the Red Rock Conservation Area.

All of those receiving perfect grades were Democrats. The league said the average score for Democrats in the Senate was 73 percent and 58 percent for Republicans. Democrats in the Assembly scored an average 86 percent to 54 percent for GOP members.

The league, with about 200 paying members and a mailing list of 2,000 people, will endorse candidates in the next election.

Those endorsements will be based, in part, on the scorecard, Grace Potorti, executive director of the organization, said.

And the league plans a legislative agenda, gathering its suggestions from local environmental groups, she said.

Tim Hay, Nevada Consumer Advocate and a member of the league's board, said, "This scorecard is a tool voters can use to see whether or not their legislators are in step with their conservation values."

Potorti said that while Democrats generally scored the highest, there were some Republican standouts, such as Sen. Warren Hardy of Las Vegas who "blew the whistle on Vidler Water Co.," which teamed with Lincoln County to sell water at a profit.

Potorti added however "There are legislators who are not paying attention to the environmental concerns of Nevada voters."

Those gaining a 100 percent grade were Sen. Maggie Carlton of North Las Vegas and Las Vegas Assembly members Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, Chris Giunchigliani, Mark Manendo and Harry Mortenson. Assemblywoman Shelia Leslie, D-Reno, was the other with a perfect grade, according to the league.

The lowest grade in the Legislature went to Republican Assemblywoman Sharron Angle of Reno at 17 percent, followed by Republican Dawn Gibbons of Reno and Don Gustavson of Sun Valley, both with 29 percent.

Potorti said the league picked bills on which the lawmakers had to make "hard decisions" and whether there was a clear choice to support conservation or not.

The Red Rock Conservation Area bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, was the only one to secure unanimous support both in the Senate and the Assembly.

The league graded the lawmakers on issues that included a bill that raised hunting and fishing license fees, with some of the new revenue used to protect upland game habitat, as well as legislation to allow Clark and Washoe counties to implement voter-approved taxes for expanded public transportation that will improve air quality.

Other legislation used in the grading system included one to raise fees for businesses that store excess amounts of hazardous materials; to create a solar energy system demonstration program; and to designate ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel as an alternative fuel to promote clean air.

The league opposed a bill to allow counties, except Clark, to partner with private companies to develop public water and sell it for profit as in the Vidler case. That bill was approved in the Senate but failed to get a floor vote in the Assembly.

The league also opposed legislation that prohibits the federal government from owning any water rights for stock watering. That bill was overwhelmingly approved by both houses.

Senators were graded on the basis of five pieces of legislation; Assembly members on the basis of seven.

Other than Carlton, the grades Clark County senators received were: Democrats Bob Coffin, Michael Schneider and Valerie Wiener and Republican Warren Hardy, 80 percent; Democrats Terry Care, Joe Neal and Minority Leader Dina Titus and Republicans Barbara Cegavske, Dennis Nolan, Ray Rawson, and Raymond Shaffer, all at 60 percent and Republicans Ann O'Connell and Sandra Tiffany, each at 40 percent.

Clark County Assembly members who received an 86 percent grade were Democrats Morse Arberry Jr., Kelvin Atkinson, Vonne Chowning, Jerry Claborn, Marcus Conklin, David Goldwater, William Horne, Kathy McClain, Bob McCleary, John Oceguera, Genie Ohrenschall, David Parks, Speaker Richard Perkins and Peggy Pierce.

The next highest grade in the Assembly was 71, achieved by Clark County Democrats Ellen Koivisto and Wendell Williams and Republicans Chad Christensen, Garn Mabey and Valerie Weber.

Those receiving a grade of 57 were Democrat Tom Collins and Republicans Josh Griffin and Joe Hardy.