Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

LEGISLATIVE DEADLINE: Measures target hospital costs, profits

Republicans argue Assembly Democrats' bills meddlesome

From left, state Sens. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas; Mark Amodei, R-Carson City; Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas; work on bills Tuesday in Carson City. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY -- Democrats clashed with Republicans on Tuesday over bills designed to cut emergency room charges and make hospitals spend at least 4 percent of their revenue on charity care and community programs.

In votes largely along party lines, the Assembly backed Assembly Bill 322, which requires hospitals to provide charity care, and Assembly Bill 342, which requires them to report where they send their profits.

Limits on what hospitals can charge for emergency room care were supported by the Assembly in a third hospital bill, Assembly Bill 296.

Assembly Democrats also won approval of Assembly Bill 66, which would require pharmaceutical companies to report to the attorney general their gifts to doctors and pharmacists. Democrats hold a 26-16 advantage in the Assembly.

"When you lead the nation in hospital costs, it transcends the normal Republican pro-business stance," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno. "Eighty percent of the hospitals in Southern Nevada are controlled by out-of-state corporations. Something isn't working in our state."

But Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, disagreed.

"We are mandating hospitals have to have a plan to give away 4 percent of their gross," he said. "That doesn't mean they have 4 percent profits. That bothers us. There is no concern about the costs or what they already give away."

The clash of political philosophies came as senators and Assembly members worked into the evening approving nearly 100 bills to meet a deadline.

Tuesday was the final day for a bill to receive approval in its house of origin. Those that failed were declared dead for the remainder of the 2005 Legislature. The deadline did not apply to measures that would trigger state or local government spending.

Assemblyman Garn Mabey, a physician, said the bill requiring pharmaceutical companies report gifts would lead to "unnecessary paperwork."

"I haven't received any gifts, other than some pens and free samples," said Mabey, R-Las Vegas.

But Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, said studies in other states have found a correlation between what drugs are prescribed by doctors and the "trips to Maui" and other gifts they receive from pharmaceutical representatives.

Leslie conceded the future of the bills is in doubt because they will be forwarded to the Senate, where Republicans hold a 12-9 advantage.

"I hope they all die," Mabey said.

Bills ending up in the graveyard included Assembly Joint Resolution 7, a proposal by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, to repeal term limits. Legislators will be limited to serving no more than 12 years in the Senate or Assembly starting with the 2011 session. No vote was held on the resolution.

Several Senate bills also failed to win approval by the deadline.

Senate Bill 378 would have allowed some rural communities to let children as young as 14 drive off-road vehicles on public roads. That measure did not receive a vote.

Another that failed without a vote was Senate Bill 470, which would have required airport authorities to ensure people lined up to board airplanes out of the pathway used by other travelers. Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, on Monday had called it frivolous legislation aimed at micromanaging airports.

Gaining passage in the Assembly was Assembly Bill 312, which would require state and local governments to dispose of surplus land at public auctions. The proposal, sponsored by Assemblyman Scott Sibley, R-Henderson, grew out of the scandal at McCarran International Airport, where the businesses of a Las Vegas developer made millions in profits on airport land trades.

Under the bill, any land offered for sale by a government must have two recent independent appraisals. Appraisers must submit financial disclosure statements.

"This hopefully ends the cronyism that has taken place in Southern Nevada," Giunchigliani said.

Assembly members voted 30-12 to move primary elections, held in September, to the third Tuesday in June. Conklin said earlier primaries were requested by county election registrars who argued a September primary does not give them enough time to prepare for the November election or to resolve primary election challenges.

In a bit of legislative legerdemain, a bill dealing with a weatherization program for low-income residents, pronounced dead in the Senate last week, was resurrected and passed Tuesday.

The 14-6 vote for Senate Bill 123 on Tuesday was a turnaround from Thursday, when the measure prohibiting the use of home weatherization money for mobile homes went down to defeat on a 13-7 vote.

The bill was brought back when Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, asked for the earlier vote to be rescinded. It passed after several of his Republican colleagues switched their previous no votes to yes.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said the measure would do a disservice to mobile home residents, who could benefit from weatherization improvements.

Another bill gaining Senate approval was Senate Bill 212, sought by Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas. It requires high schools to start core classes later in the day. Beers originally proposed classes not start before 8 a.m., but a compromise set the time at no earlier than 7:35 a.m.

Also passing in the Senate was Senate Bill 473, which would allow local governments use traffic cameras to issue citations for red-light runners.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said traffic cameras would be used only at signal-controlled intersections. They would be used to catch red-light runners only, he added, not motorists speeding or committing any other traffic infraction.

Speaking in opposition was Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, who predicted tickets will be issued to car owners who did not run the light. A teenager could run a light and the parent who owns the vehicle would get the ticket, she said.

A bill allowing local governments' homeland security panels to meet behind closed doors won approval on a 13-7 vote in the Senate after a debate over terrorism versus the public's right to monitor its government.