Bills on judges, construction workers among 58 signed

By Cy Ryan (contact)

Friday, June 5, 2009 | 5:48 p.m.

CARSON CITY – There will be nine new judges up for election in Clark County in 2010 and construction workers statewide will have to get training in an effort to avoid the rash of accidents that occurred in Southern Nevada.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has signed 58 bills into law, including the general appropriations act of $6.7 billion to keep the state running for two years, and a $336.4 million building program.

The governor approved Assembly Bills 64 and 65. They create seven new district judges and two new family court judges in Clark County and they increase the fees for conducting judicial business statewide.

For instance, it will cost $99 more to file a civil suit and $1,359 more for a suit involving business. There is also a new district judge in Washoe County.

Construction workers will have to complete a 10-hour health and safety course within 15 days of being hired in an effort to eliminate construction deaths. Supervisors will be required to take a 30-hour course under Assembly Bill 148.

The building program for the state includes a $22.8 million, 36-bed acute care psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents in Clark County. The bill includes $5 million for exhibits construction at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve Museum and $11 million for jobs at the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne Campus.

Assembly Bill 564 provides $3.2 million to match a donation by Harrah’s Entertainment to start planning for the Hotel College Academic Building at UNLV. There is $7.8 million set aside for remodeling an unoccupied building at the High Desert State Prison in Clark County and converting it into a regional medical center.

Funds from the federal government will be used for a $24.7 million field maintenance shop for the military in Las Vegas and $35.7 million will be used for a readiness center for the military in North Las Vegas.

The general appropriations act allocates money to state agencies to operate for the next two years. In most cases, there is a cutback in the cash allocated to these departments because of the downturn in the economy.

The regional transportation commission in Clark County is directed under Senate Bill 173 to build 10 bus turnouts by December 2012. These turnouts should be on heavily traveled highways and where the biggest number of passengers board or depart.

The governor signed Senate Bill 427 that will require future public employees to work longer before being eligible to retire. At present a worker can retire at age 60 with 10 years on the job. That is increased to age 62.

Police officers and firefighters can now retire at age 55 with 10 years of service. The bill increases that to age 60.

And those who join public service in the future will be receiving smaller cost-of-living raises when they retire.

Also signed was Assembly Bill 229 calling for fire-safe cigarettes to be sold in Nevada in the future. Retailers who have the present cigarettes can sell them until they exhaust their supply.