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February 12, 2012

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2011 Legislature:

County to lean on friends to push bills through state Legislature

Government can offer only four bills, has 22 proposals ready to go

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Friday, July 30, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

Chris Giunchigliani

Chris Giunchigliani

Steve Sisolak

Steve Sisolak

Sun coverage

Proposed bills

Justices of the peace

Increase the population requirement of a Clark County township before the county must to hire a justice of the peace in that township. It is recommended that the population trigger be increased from one justice per 100,000 or fraction thereof to one per 150,000.

Medical facilities

Require medical facilities in Clark County to demonstrate need before establishing or expanding all levels of trauma centers, organ transplant programs, burn care centers, open-heart cardiac care programs, and level 3 neonatal care programs.

Pool safety

Establish a state pool code that meets the requirements of federal law by mandating public pools and spas have anti-entrapment drain covers and that homeowners have in place or install secondary access pool/spa barriers upon the sale of homes.

Pet tortoises

Limit the keeping of desert tortoises as pets to help the county reduce its current spending of about $100,000 a year to pick up approximately 1,000 abandoned pet tortoises. The legislation would address the issue of grandfathering tortoises now kept as pets.

Medical insurance

Increase the minimum required health insurance coverage for athletes and performers in hazardous activities such as race car drivers, rodeo participants, boxers and acrobats from the current $50,000. Officials have not settled on a new minimum amount.

Stuck with a law that lets it introduce only four bills in the Legislature — and fearing another state attempt to dip into its dwindling tax dollars — Clark County will depend on cultivated friends in the Capitol to shepherd many of its 22 bill proposals through the 2011 legislative session.

County staff has drafted a wish list of proposals — ideas from among the county’s 38 departments and commissioners — that it wants turned into bills for consideration by lawmakers.

Because of the four-bill limit, commissioners say they will visit the Legislature more often next year, and they hope relationships developed with legislators and, potentially, the governor’s office will help the state’s most populous county push more measures through the legislative meat grinder.

If successful, it would herald a sea change from two years ago, when an unprecedented deficit in state revenue forced lawmakers to forage through local governments for money, leaving Clark County shorted by $180 million over a two-year period.

“I’ve got friends in the Legislature, I’m helping some people get elected, and we have developed relationships,” Commissioner Steve Sisolak said. “We have issues relating to the county, and I’m going to call on them to help.”

Two years ago, when Sisolak was a new commissioner, he said county staff told him to stay away from Carson City out of concern that commissioners’ messages wouldn’t jibe with those of the county’s lobbyists.

Not this time.

“I’m on the phone with (Harry) Reid, (Dina) Titus pretty regularly, I’ve worked with (John) Ensign on a park matter,” he said. “So why would we not have that same kind of relationship with our state legislative leaders? I intend to cultivate and work those relationships.”

This time, too, county staff members want commissioners to become more involved, because state lawmakers told them they wanted to be able to talk with commissioners.

“After the last session, the feedback was that legislators asked that (commissioners) be more involved in the process. We welcome that,” said Sabra Smith-Newby, director of administrative services. She was one of the county’s lobbyists in 2009.

The subjects of the 22 bill proposals run the gamut from saving money to saving the lives of children. Commissioners on Tuesday are expected to choose four that state law allows and rely on the kindness of political friends to push the others.

Commissioners will choose from potential bills that would:

• Increase the population requirement of a Clark County township from 100,000 people to 150,000 before the county needs to hire a justice of the peace;

• Require medical facilities demonstrate need before establishing or expanding facilities such as burn-care centers and all levels of trauma centers;

• Establish a state pool code that meets federal law to lower the child-drowning rate;

• Limit the possession of tortoises as pets because the county spends about $100,000 picking up about 1,000 abandoned tortoises each year;

• Increase the health insurance minimum for race car drivers, rodeo participants, boxers and acrobats from the state-imposed $50,000;

• Give a local vendor a leg up when bidding for county business. If a local vendor bids higher than an out-of-state vendor, the bill would let the county discount the local bid by a set percentage to help the bid win.

If the number of proposals seems high, consider that up to eight of the 22 could be handled without changing the law if the state allowed Clark County more authority, or “home rule.” For example, one bill proposal would allow the county to send out land-use and zoning notices by bulk mail instead of first class. Another would permit University Medical Center to garnish wages to collect outstanding bills.

Regardless of the current home-rule situation, commissioners say they hope to have enough juice with legislators to benefit the county.

“If we get our legislators to sponsor a bill, we can take a position of support and our lobby team can help them move it through the process,” said Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who served 16 years in the Assembly.

Replacing Smith-Newby, county Coroner Michael Murphy will be the point person for the five full-time lobbyists. The county has not hired pricey professional lobbyists, as it did in 2009.

Murphy said he wants commissioners to be involved in the county’s legislative strategy that is still being planned.

“Commissioners want to speak for themselves on issues, but I also hope that on issues that involve the whole county, we speak with one voice,” he said.

That’s a message county staff prays the commissioners take to heart because although legislators want to see commissioners in Carson City, experience has taught that too many voices can lead to mixed messages.

Indeed, in one case last year, Smith-Newby testified for a bill to resolve government-contractor disputes without arbitration. Ten minutes later, Commissioner Tom Collins testified for the same bill but didn’t think it should go as far as Smith-Newby wanted.

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