Bill drafts pouring in for next legislative session

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The opening of the 2005 Legislature is still seven months away, but lawmakers and others have asked that 216 bills be prepared, ranging from taxes to the open meeting law to requiring female guards at the women's prison.

The legal division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau Wednesday released its first list of the requests it has received to draft bills. The list includes a one-sentence summary of the bill and the name of the individual who asked for it. In many cases the name is not revealed at the request of the person who proposed the legislation.

Summaries may only say that a lawmaker wants to "revise" a law.

The 2005 session opens in February.

Republican legislators who opposed the $833.5 million tax increase in 2003 have asked for bills to repeal part of the tax hike or limit further increases.

Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, the swing vote that allowed passage of the 2003 tax package, now wants to repeal the business tax on financial institutions. Banks and savings and loans are required to pay a 2 percent tax on payroll, compared to the 0.65 percent tax imposed on other businesses.

The financial institutions are also required to pay $1,750 each quarter on each of their branches. Some banks in rural Nevada have told lawmakers it has imposed a hardship and could lead to closure of branches in some small communities.

Assemblyman Ron Knecht, R-Carson City, who fought the tax package, is suggesting a constitutional amendment to reverse the decision of the Nevada Supreme Court, which ruled a two-thirds vote was not necessary to pass a tax increase because it was needed to fund public schools.

Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, who was unsuccessful in gaining enough signatures on an initiative petition to limit future property tax increases, has asked for a constitutional amendment to do the same thing.

One unidentified legislator wants to allow the Legislature to provide for operation of a lottery for paying the property taxes owed by senior citizens.

The problems that regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada have had in following the open-meeting law is getting the attention of a number of legislators.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, wants to revise the open-meeting law to prohibit closed meetings on the job performance of people appointed by elected officials. Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, wants to revise the law allowing closed meetings of the regents to consider the character and competence of employees.

Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who sued the regents on grounds they violated the open-meeting law in the demotion of two officials of the Community College of Southern Nevada, is asking for four different bills to toughen the law when there are multiple violations.

The Legislative Commission has asked for a bill to clarify the language in the open meeting law but no details are available.

Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, wants the law changed so only female correctional officers can be hired at women's prisons. A female inmate at the state women's prison in North Las Vegas was impregnated by a male correctional officer. That prison has been operated by a private company but the state will take it over in October.

The public schools are also getting some attention.

One bill request from an unidentified lawmakers to raise the state financial school support level to the national average. That issue will also be on the election ballot in November.