Legislative briefs for March 31, 2005

Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.

More money set for mental hospital

Gov. Kenny Guinn signed a bill Wednesday allocating $11.3 million more towards construction of the new state mental hospital in Las Vegas.

Assembly Bill 204 provides $9.9 million to restore some of the cuts that had to be made in the project when the construction bids came in higher than expected. And $1.4 million is being added to increase the size of the hospital by 40 beds bringing it to a 190-bed capacity.

Construction started in January and is scheduled to be completed next year. Guinn said it will be named the Neal-Rawson hospital after two former state senators, Joe Neal and Ray Rawson, both of Las Vegas.

Senate approves insurance measure

The Senate, without opposition Wednesday, approved a bill to increase the assessments against insurance companies to be used for fraud investigations.

Assembly Bill 135, which now goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn for his signature, increases the annual tax anywhere from $250 to $2,000 based on the amount of insurance premiums collected.

For instance, those companies that write in excess of $50 million in premiums will pay $4,000 a year instead of $2,000.

The money goes to finance the insurance fraud unit in the state Attorney General's Office.