Lawmaker accepted prohibited donations

CARSON CITY -- A Henderson assemblyman accepted political contributions during the special legislative session Friday, despite a state law that prohibits such donations.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Henderson, refused to say why he still was accepting contributions on his Web site, bobbeers4assembly.com, but later admitted the error in his blog.

In the blog on the site, he said he had received two "unlooked for" contributions that day and he would return the money.

"My error," Beers stated. "In the confusion of a special session being mixed into a campaign, I overlooked the Web site and should have turned off that feature."

To test lawmakers' Web sites to determine if any were accepting campaign contributions, the Review-Journal made a $5 contribution to Beers via a credit card. His Web site contains a link through which people may make donations to his campaign.

Within a half hour of being informed about that contribution, Beers had disabled the link that allows people to contribute to his campaign. His other Web site, www.bobbeersforassembly.us, still was accepting contributions Friday evening.

A check of every known Web site of Clark County legislators Friday showed only a handful included a link allowing credit card donations to be made to their campaigns.

Six legislators, including Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, have credit card contribution links on their Web sites. All had been disabled Friday.

Senator Beers, a well-known state politician who ran for governor in 2006, is not related to Assemblyman Beers.

Gov. Jim Gibbons issued a proclamation about 10 p.m. Thursday that called the Legislature into a three-day special session.

In cases where proclamations are issued shortly before special sessions, state law specifies legislators may not solicit or accept contributions from "the day after" the governor issues the proclamation until 15 days after the special session is completed.

The law states legislators who violate this requirement face civil penalties of as much as $5,000 per offense. Secretary of State Ross Miller enforces the law.

Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said legislators were informed by Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes of the law prohibiting them from soliciting or accepting contributions during special sessions.

Contact Carson City Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.