Chamber pushes amendment giving local government final say on contracts

By Cy Ryan

Saturday, May 14, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY — Assembly Democrats criticized lobbyists for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce on Friday for offering a late amendment to give local governments the upper hand in contract negotiations with city, county and school district employees.

“This is a kamikaze amendment,” complained Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson, D-Reno. The proposal, she said, changes the process and “throws out the baby with the bath water.”

The amendment, presented by chamber lobbyist Sam McMullen, would eliminate binding arbitration in negotiations and allow the local governments to make final decisions on the details in contracts.

McMullen said there is a concern about the escalating cost of government and that elected officials should have the final say on contracts. He said an arbitrator might not have a “full sense of the issues” facing local government.

The amendment was presented Friday morning, and lawmakers said they did not have a chance to study it.

Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, said the amendment suggests local government officials don’t have the skills to present their cases in binding arbitration.

Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, told McMullen that local governments are always begging for home rule.

“Local officials need to be part of the discussion,” she said, adding that local government officials are quick to criticize the Legislature.

The amendment offered was to Senate Bill 98, which requires, among other things, that the cost of a final local government contract must be made public. There was nothing in the bill about binding arbitration, and it had the support of public employee groups and governments.

The amendment, however, drew opposition from police and firefighter lobbyists.

Ron Dreher, representing the Peace Officers Research Association of Nevada, called the chamber amendment a “huge step backward.”

Russ McAllister of the Professional Firefighters of Nevada said the finding by an unbiased arbitrator is similar to that of a judge.

Other points of the chamber’s amendment include requiring contracts to be open automatically if local government revenues fall by at least 5 percent in two consecutive years and prohibiting supervisors from collectively bargaining.