Lawmakers face deadline on bills in committee

Kirsten Searer

Thursday, May 19, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Lobbyists are running the halls and some legislators are sweating it out this week as lawmakers approach a key deadline to pass bills out of committees.

No legislator is immune, largely because the bills have been turned over to the other house. The Senate is controlled by Republicans, while the Assembly is controlled by Democrats.

Even Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, watched one of his main initiatives die this week in the Senate Taxation Committee. His proposal to give consumers a break on sales taxes in August was voted down, 4-3.

"It'll get worse before it gets better," Perkins said, adding that he hopes to revive the measure later in the session.

Assembly Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he's frustrated that Assembly Democrats won't even hold hearings on some bills that originated in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The list of bills ranges from a measure to create a graduated driver's license to a bill that would prevent people from suing restaurants because they are fat.

"We have tried to give every bill a hearing," Raggio said. "We're just asking for some fairness."

Perkins said the session is running as usual, with no fewer bills being heard than the Assembly typically does.

"I think we've been fair in our house," he said.

In the Senate, the Commerce and Labor is holding onto a list of key bills pushed by Assembly Democrats, including provisions to raise the minimum wage and help Nevadans re-import prescription drugs from Canada.

The chairman of the committee, Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said he isn't looking at whether bills originated from Republicans or Democrats. He said he's giving his colleagues on the committee a chance to look at the legality of the bill to re-import prescription drugs from Canada, an idea largely pushed by Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas.

The minimum wage bill has stalled, though. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, has dug in her heels, saying she won't amend the bill, which was modeled after the initiative that passed overwhelmingly last fall.

The Senate Judiciary Committee already decided not to clear a measure to create a state-run lottery to benefit education, another cornerstone of the Democratic legislative agenda.

That bill also will technically die this week, though Perkins said he hopes to revive it, l during the bargaining of the last three weeks.

Other Republican bills that have not received a hearing include a measure to increase the penalties for driving under the extreme influence of alcohol and a measure to give National Guard members credit in the state retirement system while they are on duty.

Another bill, Senate Bill 109, would give parents presumptive joint custody in a divorce, unless one parent had a history of felonies or domestic violence.

The Friday deadline relates to bills that deal mostly with policy changes. Bills that allocate money can be declared exempt and would not need to meet the legislative deadlines.