Legislative briefs for April 13, 2005

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

Panel passes bill on video voyeurism

A bill creating the crime of video voyeurism and prohibiting the secret filming of a person in a restroom, locker room, dressing room and a home, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 28 defines the crime as clandestine filming done to sexually arouse the person with the camera or others.

Violation is a class E felony that carries a one- to four-year prison term and a $5,000 fine. But the District Court judge is required to place a person on probation.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, goes to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Senate approves teen driving bill

A bill increasing the requirements for teens to get driver's licenses was approved by the Senate Tuesday 20-1.

Sen. Barbara Cegavaske, R-Las Vegas, noting that this is the fifth session she has introduced the bill only to see it die in the Assembly, said she did not know whether Senate Bill 60 would survive in the Assembly this session.

At present a person 15 years and 9 months old is eligible to hold a driver's license. The bill increases that age to 16. The bill requires a person 16 or 17 years old to have an instruction permit for six months before getting a driver's license. The present law requires a learner's permit anywhere from 30 to 90 days, depending on the age of the individual.

A teen with a restricted license must have 50 hours of supervised experience now, but a new requirement would mandate at least 10 hours of that time during nights.

Existing law restricts a driver under 18 years old of transporting passengers under 18 for the first 30 to 90 days after licensing, unless the passenger is a family member. This bill extends that restriction to six months.

The lone dissenting vote was cast by Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, who said she did not think the bill went far enough. She said in former times there use to be an instructor with the teen during the on-the-road instruction. She said, now the instruction can be through the Internet or books.

"You learn by doing," she said of the driver education courses.

Public employee measure approved

to A public employee serving in the Legislature would be required to take a leave of absence from the fulltime job during the legislative session, under a bill approved by the Senate 20-1 Tuesday.

Senate Bill 129, by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, is aimed at public employees who draw pay from their government jobs while serving in the Legislature. One of the main targets of Titus is Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, a police officer.

During the last session, he drew his pay while working on weekends for the police department in Henderson.

Titus and Perkins are expected to butt heads for the Democratic nomination next year for governor.

Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, was the lone dissenting vote. She objected to a section in the bill that the state or local agency would not have to grant a leave of absence to the employee.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, defended the provision, saying there have been cases in private industry in which the employee was not allowed a leave of absence, forcing the lawmaker to quit the job.

This bill would make government employment just like the private sector when it comes to a person elected to the Legislature leaving his or her job, Care said.

The bill goes to the Assembly.

Money OK'd for mental patients

The Senate unanimously approved a bill Tuesday allocating $2.4 million to allow 28 beds to continue to operate through this fiscal year to take care of mentally ill patients in Clark County.

Last year the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities put those beds into operation at the Desert Regional Center because the emergency rooms in Clark County hospitals were filling up with mental patients.

The state originally put $500,000 into the operation and needs the $2.4 million to finish out the fiscal year that ends June 30.

Senate Bill 90 goes to the Assembly.