Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

New laws go into effect Friday

CARSON CITY -- More money for Nevada's failing schools, a new program to help problem gamblers and greater protection in the law from unscrupulous payday loan companies all take effect Friday.

July 1 is the beginning of the state's new fiscal year and all or parts of the 191 bills passed by the 2005 Legislature and its special session become effective.

Some of these include setting up a system to permit Nevadans to buy lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada and to allow local school districts to adopt a minimum number of days or minutes remedial students and those in kindergarten and first grade must attend classes.

There is money set aside for 2 percent pay raises for state workers, schoolteachers and university faculty.

The Legislature ordered a study by school boards whether seat belts are needed in school buses to enhance the safety of pupils and what the cost would be. Local governments are being required to conduct a study of safe walking routs in areas near schools. At present students who live within a two-mile radius are not eligible to ride the school buses.

Gov. Kenny Guinn's program to infuse $78 million into Nevada's failing or near failing schools becomes effective. But it may take a while to set up the program. The law says the money should be allocated by August.

Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public instruction, said it might be November before the money can be allocated. The governor must name eight members to a commission to join Rheault in judging how the money should be allocated.

Rheault said Wednesday his state Department of Education is developing simplified applications for the schools to apply. And he will recommend that the grants be allocated for 18 months, rather than one year on the first go-around.

Guinn originally proposed $100 million but the Legislature decided to spend $22 million of that to start to phase in all-day kindergarten beginning July 1, 2006.

For the first time, this state that pioneered the casino industry will start helping problem gamblers. The governor will name a nine-member advisory committee to decide how to allocate grants to agencies that counsel and treat those afflicted. There will be $1 diverted from the tax on each slot machine this coming fiscal year and $2 following year for an estimated $3 million over the biennium.

State Human Resources Director Mike Willden said Wednesday he is working with Guinn's office to get the advisory committee appointed. He said he hopes to have the first meeting in late July and the grants will probably start flowing in November.

On Friday there will be $552,827 set aside to the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disability to contract for 90 additional community residential beds for mentally ill patients in Clark County. The new law provides $737,093 to support the mental health court in Clark County.

The state will chip in $900,000 a year to finance a community triage center in Clark County to relieve hospital emergency rooms that are being clogged at times with mental health patients. Local governments and hospitals will also contribute. And $7 million is set aside to pay to place acute psychiatric patients if the state does not have the room for them.

Hospitals will be required to provide patients, upon discharge, notice of any policy that permits a reduction or a discount on the bill and what qualifies a patient for the lower payments.

Doctors applying to be licensed in Nevada must supply a set of fingerprints to be checked by the FBI for any criminal acts in his or her background starting Friday. And the law sets up additional grounds for denying a license to a physician including convictions of murder or mayhem, any felony with a firearm, assault with intent to kill or to commit sexual assault, illegal possession of drugs or abuse or neglect of a child.

The payday loan bill limits the penalties that can be charged on delinquent loans and it stops garnishment fees and treble damages being added to late paying loans. Companies must post their fees and give contracts both in English and Spanish. And the payday loan companies cannot charge a fee for early payment of the loan.

Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said Wednesday she has heard rumors that all the payday loan businesses do not intend to follow the law. She said she is working closely with the commissioner of Financial Institutions to make sure the industry toes the line on this new law.

Copies of the new law will be supplied to all the justices of the peace where loan companies file suit to get a delinquent person to pay up.

Students at the university or community college must live in Nevada for one year before qualifying free tuition or certain loans, instead of the six months previously in the law. Another bill gives regents pay of $80 a day for attending meetings and sets up a $2,500 host account for meals, drinks and small gifts. The money cannot be used to pay for attending a sporting event or a political fundraising affair.

Laws on sex offenders are tightened. A convicted person on parole or probation must submit to a search his person or home by an officer without a warrant. In some cases, the Legislature eliminated the discretion of judges to give lesser terms to those convicted of sexual assault.

An appropriation of $150,000 has been made to audit the state and county child support programs. Willden said there will be a "top to bottom" review to make sure child support is being paid, how the parent is treated when he or she applies for state aid and to examine whether the system is operating efficiently.

Low-income disabled citizens, not eligible for Medicaid, will qualify for subsidies to pay for prescription drugs. This extends to the disabled the program that now covers senior citizens that pay a $10 co-pay for generic drugs and $25 for named drugs. A single disabled person whose income is $21,500 or a disabled individual, who is married with an income of less than $28,660, qualifies for the program.

Beginning tomorrow, judges and police officers will be able to apply for court orders to close their records in the offices of county assessors. The Las Vegas Police Protective Association sought the bill to shield the home addresses from criminals who may want to take revenge on officers who have made an arrest.

Local governments will now have to go to public auction to sell land. The bill was sought to prevent a repeat of a controversy in Clark County of the private sale of land near McCarran International Airport.

Local governments will have to go through additional procedures of notifying businesses or a trade association of the possible impact from a proposed rule or regulation. The business or trade association will have 15 days to submit arguments if the rule will have a significant economic impact or if it will restrict the expansion of the company.

A new law gives counties the authority to set up a system to sell tax liens against real property to private companies or individuals. The interest paid on these tax liens would range between 10-20 percent. It would permit a county to get the payment of the taxes due immediately instead of waiting for the delinquent taxpayer to settle the amount.

In Clark County, the Regional Transportation Commission will take over the construction and maintenance of benches and shelters for bus passengers. It had been up to the Clark County Commission. The transportation commission could grant an exclusive franchise to any person to provide the services.

The state Department of Agriculture will have authority to remove any member of the medical marijuana program if he or she is convicted of illegal drug sales.

The Legislature agreed to create an Office of Minority Health and also a Council on Wellness and Fitness.

The beginning of the fiscal year means a replenishment of money for state agencies. The present 2003-2005 general fund budget is $4.8 billion and that doesn't include $487 million added by the Legislature to this fiscal year. The upcoming 2005-07 budget, according to legislative analysts, will be $6 billion.

Other new laws effective Friday include requiring managers of common-interest communities or condominiums to receive certification they live up to the standards of their industry; prohibiting a barber pole outside a beauty shop unless it has one licensed barber and allowing a non-profit group to set up enrollment for "profoundly gifted" middle, junior and high school students at the community colleges and universities.

A $1 million fund is established to allow rural counties to obtain technical assistance and experts to protect their water rights from efforts in Southern Nevada to pump water from the north to supply the Las Vegas area.

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