Legislative briefs for April 27, 2005

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

Senate approves school start time

Classes at high schools would not be allowed to begin before 7:35 a.m. under a bill approved by the Senate Tuesday 19-1.

But Senate Bill 212, that goes to the Assembly, allows a lot of exceptions.

Schools that operate on double sessions or are overcrowded could start before 7:35 a.m. And the requirement would not apply to a magnet school, an alternative education school, a career and technical education school or an optional class period that begins before the regular school day.

As originally introduced by Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, classes at high school would be prohibited from starting before 8 a.m.

Voting against the measure was Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas.

Election changes OK'd by Senate

The dates for the primary and general elections in cities in Clark County would be changed to coincide with state elections, under a bill approved by the Senate Tuesday.

Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, Mesquite and North Las Vegas hold their primary elections in early spring and early summer of odd-numbered years. Senate Bill 252 would change those times to September for the primary election and November for the general election in even numbered years.

The vote was 19-1 with Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, dissenting on the bill that goes to the Assembly.

Senate axes 'none of above'

Voters in Nevada might see a change on their election ballot under a bill approved by the Senate 18-2 Tuesday.

At present a slot appears on the ballot that says "None of these candidates" in the races for president or statewide office.

Senate Bill 329, which goes to the Assembly, changes that notation to "No preference" and it extends that to all election contests, including those for the Legislature.

If "No preference" wins, the candidate who received the most votes would be elected.

Voting against SB329 were Las Vegas Democrats Bob Coffin and Maggie Carlton.

Senate approves ethics changes

Without dissent, the Senate Tuesday voted to eliminate the power of the state Ethics Commission to seek removal of a government official if it finds willful violations of the ethics law.

The present law says that if the commission finds a willful violation, it must file a report with the appropriate body responsible for starting impeachment proceedings. That's what happened in the case of Controller Kathy Augustine, who was found guilty of three violations of the ethics law for using her office staff in her re-election campaign. The Legislature was convened and the Senate found her guilty of only one offense and issued a letter of reprimand. Senate Bill 430 that goes to the Assembly would remove that power from the Ethics Commission.

The Senate approved 20-0

a bill to allow a taxicab in Clark County to be used for 67 months before it is pulled off the street. At present an owner of a cab company is not permitted to use a vehicle for more than four model years or 52 months, whichever is longer.