Raggio, Titus apologize, seek to work together rest of session

      CARSON CITY -- Majority Leader Bill Raggio apologized Thursday to Minority Leader Dina Titus for intemperate comments he made Wednesday during a floor debate in the Senate.
      "I apologized if any intemperance or impatience was perceived," said Raggio, R-Reno.
      Titus, D-Las Vegas, said she accepted his apology and apologized, too. She said Raggio wanted to end a long debate.
      "I want to work together with him to end the session," she said.
      During a rancorous floor discussion on a key campaign finance reform bill, Raggio threatened sanctions against Titus if she continued to challenge his motives for amending the bill.
      He tacked on an amendment last week that allows the Ethics Commission to serve as a council to determine if candidates lie in campaigns. Titus proposed an amendment Wednesday to remove those provisions, but Raggio quickly maneuvered to induce the Republican majority to kill any consideration of her proposal.
      Titus said Wednesday that Raggio only complains that rules about decorum are violated when it fits his purposes.
      But both behaved more civilly Thursday.
      "We can have as much debate as we want on any issue," Raggio said Thursday, "But we must observe the rules. Personalities and motives will not be discussed on the Senate floor."
      For months Titus and Raggio have sniped at each other on partisan issues in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 12-9 edge.
      Ironically, Titus began the session in January vowing to tone down the amount of criticism of Raggio she dished out on the majority leader in the 1995 legislative session. But within weeks both were engaging in partisan criticism in floor debates.
      "Certainly we can work together," Raggio said. "I hope she feels the same."
      Raggio, 70, has been majority leader of the Senate in five of the last six legislative sessions. Titus, 46, the minority leader since 1993, is the first woman to lead a political party in the Legislature.