The Vegas Voice - What The Legislature Will Deal With

What The Legislature Will Deal With (Vegas Voice February 2005)

DIALOGUE WITH DINA

By the time you read this column, the 2005 legislative cycle will have begun. The Governor gave his State of the State address on January 24, in which he laid out his agenda for the remainder of his second term. Of special significance is his popular proposal to give a tax rebate of up to $300 to anyone who registered a car in Nevada in 2004.

The legislative money committees have begun meeting to analyze the Governor's budget. Freshman legislators have attended orientation sessions and the legal staff has drafted hundreds of bills for introduction the first week.

The session will officially convene on February 7 and will run for 120 days. To track a bill's progress or get information on when and where hearings will be held, please consult www.leg.state.nv.us. You can also call your legislators by dialing 486-2626, a local number that will connect you to Carson City without long distance charges.

The number one issue to be addressed is property tax reform, which I discussed in depth in last month's column. As I pointed out, many proposals are on the table, including my Titus Tax Freeze. The issue is complex and will have considerable long-term effects on the state.

A second important issue is ethics in government. Nevada has been plagued by a number of political scandals recently and we need to tighten up our ethics laws. I have proposed two bills to do just that. One will explicitly prohibit elected officials from using their staff, whose salary is paid with tax dollars, to perform political or campaign tasks. This was the charge on which Controller Kathy Augustine was recently impeached (by the way, while the Senate by majority vote let her off with a mere censure, I voted to convict her on all three charges and felt she should have been removed from office). I will also introduce a bill requiring public employees to take a leave of absence without pay in order to serve during the legislative session, just as I have always done as a university professor. This will prevent any so-called "double dipping" in the future.

Other important issues revolve around growth. Water policy, for example, is always controversial. I have a bill to establish a state water planner. We need to inventory Nevada's water resources and determine where they are. Urban areas need water to grow but rural Nevada must be adequately compensated for any water removed from its basins. At the same time, we must also ensure that the environment is not adversely affected by any water transfers.

Mental health is also a critical issue facing the state. Because there are inadequate facilities for the mentally ill, they are crowding into our emergency rooms. They have nowhere else to go and their families cannot take care of them, nor can they care for themselves. As a result, when accidents and emergencies occur, local hospitals have no room or at best long waiting lines before someone who is injured or ill can be helped.

The legislature will be addressing the perennial issues as well: funding and improving education, providing needed services for the disabled, strengthening campaign finance laws, and meeting federal mandates which are likely to be unfunded.
As you can see, this promises to be a lively session with much at stake. Please do not hesitate to call me with your ideas and opinions on these or other important matters which can greatly affect our quality of life here in Nevada.

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