Legislative briefs for May 12, 2005

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Name changes for university system

By a 21-0 vote, the Senate Wednesday approved a bill to rename the University and Community College System of Nevada; it will be known as the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Assembly Bill 527 now goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn for his signature.

The Senate also passed and sent to the Assembly Senate Bill 32 that requires a student to be a resident of Nevada for 12 months before qualifying for free tuition at the universities and college.

The current law says the student must be a resident for only six months but the university board of regents had a policy that required 12 months residency. When the discrepancy was discovered, the system had to refund several hundred thousand dollars to students who were charged non-resident fees.

Residents would still be charged course fees.

The bill also exempts employees of the university system and those in the armed services from paying tuition.

Senate approves sex-offender bill

By unanimous vote, the Senate has approved a bill to tighten the sex offender registration laws to stop Nevada from being called a "haven for sex offenders."

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said sex offenders "were flocking to Nevada" because of the lax laws. She said an estimated 39 percent of the sex offenders have not registered and Nevada had the fifth-worst record in the country.

She said Senate Bill 341 would: allow for searches of sex offender parolees and probationers' residences without warrants; require sex offenders to renew their driver's licenses every year to keep better track of them and to require the street names of where they live to be listed on community Web sites.

Titus said currently the public only has access to offenders' ZIP codes.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, asked whether providing the complete address to the public might lead to "vigilantes" attacking the offenders. Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, said there have not been attacks in other states that required full disclosure.

Shelter approved for state vehicles

The state would spend $60,000 to provide a shelter for state-owned vehicles of the Office of Veterans Services at the veterans home in Boulder City under a bill approved by the Senate 20-1 Wednesday.

The agency originally asked for $120,000 in Senate Bill 102 but it was pared back.

The lone dissenting vote came from Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who said shelter also provided a space for the private vehicle of the director.

SB102 goes to the Assembly.

Senate OKs bill for tax exemptions

A proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict the Legislature in giving exemptions on excise and property taxes has been approved by the Senate.

Assembly Joint Resolution 16, which returns to the 2007 Legislature for approval, says the Legislature, before granting any exemption, must find it would "achieve a bona fide social or economic purpose" and the benefit from the exemption would outweigh any adverse impact on the finances of state or local governments.

The resolution also said a tax exemption cannot be enacted that would "impair adversely" the ability of the state or local government to repay its bonds.

The vote in the Senate was unanimous.

Turn-lane bill passes Senate

The Senate Wednesday approved 18-3 a bill setting a restriction on traveling in a center turn lane on a street or highway.

Assembly Bill 381, which goes to Gov. Kenny Guinn for his signature, provides that a vehicle must not travel more than 50 feet in the center turn lane before merging with traffic after it has made a left-hand turn onto the highway.

Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, objected to the bill. She said a car would have to come to a full stop after 50 feet in the turn lane and it would be difficult to merge with traffic that is traveling at high rates of speed.

Carlton and Las Vegas Democrats Terry Care and Dina Titus voted against the bill.