IN BRIEF
CARSON CITY
Assembly panel votes for parental rights bill
The Assembly Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Wednesday for a measure that would allow a Nevada court to restore parental rights if a child is not likely to be adopted and if it's in the best interest of the child.
Clark County Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle argued for Assembly Bill 353.
"These children don't forget their families. They see value in them where we might not. When no one else has stepped in to establish that parenting relationship, it is just mean not to remove that legal barrier to restore that family in some form," Hardcastle said.
Current law doesn't allow for parental rights to be restored once they have been terminated. The bill sponsor, Assemblywoman Susan Gerhardt, D-Henderson, assured the committee the measure would not apply to children who already have been legally adopted.
CARSON CITY
Environmentalists not happy with water bill
A Nevada lawmaker has scaled back his bill to get rid of "frivolous" water protests, but not enough for environmentalists who continued to criticize the proposal on Wednesday.
Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, asked the Senate Natural Resources Committee to pass Senate Bill 405, a change to state water laws that would, among other things, continue part of the restrictions on participation in state water appropriation hearings approved in 2005.
In its original form, the bill would have prohibited anyone but water rights holders in the affected area from participating in water hearings conducted by the state engineer.
The latest version allows anyone to participate, but the state engineer can refuse to hear a protest if the protester fails to provide any information for which the state engineer asks.
Environmental groups and public interest groups balked at that, and asked lawmakers to reject the bill because it limits public participation.
CARSON CITY
Protests sounded over public records bill
Government agency representatives urged a legislative panel Wednesday to revise a bill that would require the agencies to respond in two business days to a public records request.
Many of the representatives also told a Senate Government Affairs subcommittee that the records requests should be in writing. They also said that Senate Bill 123 should provide an exemption for records that are clearly confidential.
The time frame for responses suggested to the subcommittee ranged from five to 10 days.
Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, who authored the bill, said more work is needed before the plan can come up for a full committee vote.
Care, a lawyer and former journalist, has said the change is needed because agencies sometimes ignore public records requests, forcing a lawsuit to get documents.
