Editorial: Reinstating a public right

Monday, May 7, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

A Nevada Senate committee has voted to repeal a 2005 law that limited the ability of the public to be involved in state licensing hearings.

The measure, which the Senate Judiciary Committee passed unanimously Thursday, now heads to the full Senate. Similar legislation has been approved in the House. The Associated Press reports that Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, chief sponsor of the bill, had asked Senate committee members to join the House in "repealing the mistake" the Legislature made in 2005 when it created a law that prohibits residents from participating in various types of licensing hearings unless they have a direct financial stake in the hearing's outcome.

This ridiculous restriction on the public's access to its government was designed to limit the number of people who could engage in legal battles over licensing issues. But it imposed far broader limits and was used to prevent people from testifying at state hearings. For example, an Amargosa pistachio farmer has said he was ejected from a hearing about a proposed dairy operation that would border his orchard.

And members of Great Basin Mine Watch, a nonprofit advocacy group, were restricted from participating in a public hearing regarding a license for a closed mine in Elko County. The group is concerned that pollutants are seeping from the old mine and tainting a stream that feeds the Humboldt River.

Frankly, it is astonishing that the 2005 legislation ever made it out of a committee hearing, let alone was passed into law. Evidently, Nevada lawmakers forgot about the First Amendment.

We hope the Senate swiftly considers and passes the legislation that will abolish the 2005 measure that eroded the public's right to participate in its government.