Deadline to bring new bills to nearly 1,000

CARSON CITY -- Nevada lawmakers are expected to introduce more than 100 bills and discuss federal stimulus funds, budgeting accountability and pay raises in the Nevada governor's office as they start the eighth week of the 2009 session on Monday.

The new legislation is being submitted on a deadline for introductions from state Senate and Assembly committees, and will bring the total of bills to change state laws and resolutions to change the Nevada Constitution to nearly 1,000.

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote on accepting federal stimulus funds for jobless benefits. With the funding, the state could extend unemployment benefits by seven weeks to over 13,000 Nevadans, a benefit of $114 million. There's another $77 million for more than 4,000 Nevadans who currently don't qualify, such as minimum-wage and construction workers.

The Ways and Means Committee also will consider Speaker Barbara Buckley's AB446, which seeks more accountability from government agencies, and will discuss spending plans for the governor's office and mansion.

Gibbons' office budget has prompted questions from lawmakers because of what they described as badly timed pay raises for many of the governor's staffers compared with 6 percent pay cuts he has proposed for other state employees.

Also Monday, the Senate Finance Committee considers SB2, which appropriates funds to ensure that Nevada meets or exceeds the national average in per-pupil funding for K-12 schools. The Senate Government Affairs Committee reviews SB203, which cuts back on the amount of financial information local governments must include in quarterly reports published in newspapers.

On Tuesday, the Assembly Elections, Procedures, Ethics and Constitutional Amendments Committee plans to discuss AB190, which would impose a moratorium on capital punishment in Nevada until mid-2011 while a study is done on the cost of the death penalty.

The Senate and Assembly budget subcommittees start work sessions to determine priorities for essential government services.

The Assembly Taxation Committee takes up AB307, which would let officials in Washoe and Clark counties publish an annual list of property taxpayers and their property values on an Internet Web site rather than in newspapers, a step that would cost the papers a lucrative revenue source.

The Assembly Government Affairs Committee considers several water-related measures, including AB416 which requires the state water engineer to conduct a resource inventory before approving transfers of groundwater from one basin to another.

The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee may vote on SJR3, which would change state rules on signatures needed in each county to get an initiative on the ballot, and on SB162, which would move the date of Nevada's mid-August primary elections to early June.

Also Tuesday, Chief Justice Jim Hardesty delivers a State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature.

On Wednesday, the Assembly Government Affairs Committee discusses AB273, which restricts the use of Tasers by police. Among other things, the bill bars the use of a Taser unless it's equipped with a camera and mandates that a public record be maintained on any use of a Taser by an officer.

The Senate Government Affairs Committee discusses SB264, which lets local governments impose, increase, decrease and repeal taxes to ensure that they carry out their responsibilities.

The panel also will discuss SB224, which removes the ability of governing bodies in Nevada's five largest counties to take action by a vote of less than a majority of all members.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee may vote on SB82, allowing no-warrant seizures of funds on prepaid debit cards in efforts to spot terrorists and drug dealers.

Critics have raised constitutional concerns and argue that authorities can get a warrant from a judge to seize such funds.

The Assembly Elections, Procedures, Ethics and Constitutional Amendments Committee considers proposed amendments dealing with intermediate appeals courts, equal rights for men and women and lotteries.

On Friday, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee considers SB283, dealing with the rights of domestic partners, and SB207, dealing with unlawful discrimination in hotels.

Senate-Assembly budget subcommittees will wrap up their weeklong efforts to determine priorities for essential government services with a discussion of Nevada's state college and university system.