Gibbons vetoes bills on increasing fees, stealing periodicals

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, May 21, 2009 | 2:10 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons vetoed four bills Thursday, including Assembly Bill 257, which would make it a crime for an individual to take more than 10 copies of a free or complimentary periodical.

Gibbons said he doesn’t see any benefit to the public in making this a crime. Law enforcement should be preventing major crimes and protecting the public and not chasing persons who take an excessive number of free publications, he said.

Also vetoed were:

-- Assembly Bill 480 raising the fees for the state Engineer’s Office on filing of applications for water rights. The bill calls for boosting the rate for an initial application from $250 to $300. And it increases other fees.

-- Senate Bill 201 to allow Washoe County to raise its gasoline tax by 2 cents this year and 2 cents next year for construction and maintenance of roads and highways. Voters approved an advisory question on the election ballot. Gibbons said there was not “a clear and concise statement” of the amount of the fuel tax increase on the ballot. He said the question on the ballot “deliberately obscures the impact of the question from the voters.”

-- Assembly Bill 122 expanding the authority of the director of the state Office for Consumer Health Assistance. The governor said he recommended this office be eliminated because it provides duplicate services and it is not an essential government service.