Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2005 | 11:14 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Nevada's congressional delegation is back in the nation's capital this week for the opening of the 109th session of Congress and faces a slate of familiar issues as well as some new ones.
Among the top priorities for the state's five lawmakers in Congress: keeping a planned medical complex for Nevada veterans on track. The project, which would include a new hospital, an outpatient clinic and a nursing home, is slated to be completed as early as 2009 in North Las Vegas.
Nevada lawmakers worked closely with outgoing VA Secretary Anthony Principi to make the project a reality. Congress has approved a land transfer that set the deal in motion, and planning work has already begin. But the project is still subject to congressional spending and Veterans Affairs department budget priorities.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., today planned to meet with six Cabinet nominees, including VA Secretary nominee Jim Nicholson. Ensign said he intended to urge Nicholson to make the project a top priority.
"We're going to stay all over that to make sure it stays on schedule," Ensign said.
Ensign's other priorities include a bill he plans to introduce that is intended to conserve water in Clark County. The bill would allocate $200 million from Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act land sales to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's turf removal program. Schools and other public institutions would be eligible for money to remove grass in order to save water.
Lawmakers are also dusting off old legislation. Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., plans to re-introduce a bill today to create accounts that unemployed people could tap into to help pay for costs associated with finding a new job.
Meanwhile Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., plans to reintroduce a bill this week that would phase in a new retirement age for pilots.
Both lawmakers have pushed these plans before, but bills left incomplete at the end of last year must start the legislative process over in a new session.
Porter is "not wasting any time," his spokesman, Adam Mayberry, said.
Likewise, Gibbons wants to get his bill back in play as quickly as possible, spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.
The House passed Porter's "re-employment accounts" last year but the Senate never considered the bill.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said that among her goals this year is a tax incentive package for small businesses that use renewable energy resources and water more efficiently.
Also on the delegation's to-do list this year: a proposal to transfer federal land to Clark County for a tourism heliport. Nevada lawmakers have made several attempts to pass legislation that would establish a new heliport to replace the one at McCarran International Airport used by Grand Canyon tour operators. Residents near the airport have complained about daily helicopter noise.
Objections have been raised to two sites under consideration: a 45-acre site off Interstate 15 at Sloan identified by the Clark County Aviation Department as a good option and an alternative site near the Sunrise landfill on the eastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley.
Reid and Ensign also introduced a bill just as the last session ended to transfer 547 acres of federal land south of the Henderson Executive Airport to Henderson for business development.
The bill would give the land to Henderson, which would in turn divide it and sell it at market value to commercial developers.
In addition to legislation, Nevada lawmakers will be keeping close tabs on several nominations subject to Senate approval.
Reid and Ensign are eyeing Samuel Bodman, President Bush's pick to replace Spencer Abraham as Energy secretary. His confirmation is schedule before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Jan. 19.
If confirmed by the Senate, Bodman, currently deputy Treasury Secretary, will inherit the federal plan to store the nation's high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The controversial project has long been opposed by Nevada lawmakers.
The usual budget battles on the Yucca project will most likely emerge. Nevada lawmakers led by Reid each year negotiates to cut the budget. Nevada lawmakers anticipate renewing their fight this year against efforts by pro-Yucca lawmakers to change project budgeting rules. Yucca proponents have advocated taking Yucca "off-budget" -- giving the Energy Department direct access to a multibillion-dollar federal nuclear waste fund by removing it from annual spending caps set by Congress.
The delegation also will be closely watching whether any Yucca supporters in Congress will introduce a bill to set a radiation standard for the project. A federal appeals court threw out a 10,000-year standard last year because it was not as strict as one advocated by the National Academy of Sciences.
The court said the Environmental Protection Agency has two choices: create a new standard, or allow Congress to pass a bill that would allow the 10,000-year standard to stay in place.
Nevada lawmakers said they had no early indication that any pro-Yucca lawmakers were working on such a bill and said they would oppose it if it came up.
Reid and Ensign also will keep a close eye on a Nevada judicial nomination. Reid and Ensign recommended Attorney General Brian Sandoval for a U.S District judge seat in Reno. Bush has not formally nominated him for the seat yet, but Sandoval spokesman Tom Sargeant said Sandoval has been to the White House for an interview. If Bush approves, Reid and Ensign said they expect Sandoval will be approved by the Senate relatively easily.
Congress also plans to take up a massive transportation projects bill that authorizes billions of dollars in funding for six years on federal highways and transit programs. Nevada could receive close to $1.6 billion based on estimates from last year's work.
Berkley said Las Vegas has several "massive" projects in the bill, and she vowed to fight for the bill's passage.
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