ID theft ‘passports’ coming

Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005 | 7:55 a.m.

Cy Ryan

Sun Capital Bureau

CARSON CITY -- Identity theft victims will get some help come Jan. 1.

A new state law goes into effect giving the Attorney General's office the authority to issue special "passports" to victims of identity theft to help them show that their identity was stolen.

The passport should help a victim restore credit or resolve any criminal issues that the thief committed.

A victim has to report the theft to police and then apply to the attorney general's office.

The law, passed as Senate Bill 304 by the Legislature this year, is one of about 20 that goes into effect with the New Year.

Other key laws that go into effect include a program to help disabled citizens pay for their prescription drugs and a law aimed at stopping counterfeit cigarettes from being sold in Nevada. Most of the laws approved by the 2005 Legislature took effect in July or October.

The Legislature set aside $468,156 this fiscal year for the state to start picking up part of the prescription drug costs for the disabled. Mike Willden, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, said the program will be started slowly because of the unknown costs.

Current information, he said, shows that drug costs for the disabled are about three to four times more expensive than senior citizens, now enrolled in a similar state program.

Willden said Thursday that there is $1 million in reserve that will be used to beef up the disabled drug program. He said he hoped that an annual $600,000 would be available to finance the disabled drug program.

Cigarette dealers, worried about contraband cigarettes being sold in Nevada, pushed through two bills to tighten the laws.

Sam McMullen, lobbyist for Altria Corporate Services that owns Phillip Morris U.S.A. said these "smuggling rings" may be selling as much as 5 percent of the cigarettes in Las Vegas. He said they even counterfeit the tax stamps.

It's costing the state loss of tax revenue and these sales are undercutting the tobacco companies that are playing by the rules, he said Thursday. And "there is a worry about quality control" of these bootleg cigarettes, he said.

Those caught selling counterfeit cigarettes with false manufacturing labels or counterfeit stamps are subject to a fine of up to $1,000 on the first offense and up to $5,000 on subsequence offenses. In addition, the person could be required to pay a penalty of up to 500 percent of the unpaid taxes on the cigarettes.

Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687 5032 or cy@lasvegassun.com.