Hearings to address budget priorities

CARSON CITY -- Nevada lawmakers start the ninth week of their 2009 session on Monday with more hearings that are likely to produce challenges to deep budget cuts proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Senate-Assembly budget subcommittee work sessions include one dealing with welfare and Medicaid programs, and another focusing on the state's tourism and economic development programs.

The hearings are aimed at determining priorities for essential government services. The decisions on those priorities will lead to decisions on funding to be included in the budgets for those services.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee will consider measures aimed at increasing the quality of health care and tightening standards for getting a medical license.

More medical-related measures will be debated in the Senate Health and Education Committee, including Senate Bill 290, which would let patients or their guardians install surveillance devices in patients' rooms in various care facilities.

Also on Monday, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is scheduled to address the Senate and Assembly.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider Senate Bill 238, which would expedite restoration of civil rights to ex-felons if there are no objections from a sentencing judge or from the prosecutor in the case.

The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee will debate Senate Joint Resolution 10, a proposed constitutional amendment to get rid of the 12-year limits on the time that senators and Assembly members can serve; and Senate Joint Resolution 6, providing for annual legislative sessions instead of the current every-other-year sessions that run for 120 days. The sessions would be 30 days in even-numbered years and 120 days in odd-numbered years.

The Assembly Taxation Committee plans a hearing on Assembly Bill 321, which would result in part of the sales and use taxes now going to certain counties being diverted to the state to help deal with the current economic downturn.

On Wednesday, the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee will review a package of energy measures designed to spur development of renewable energy in Nevada. The Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee will consider Senate Bill 73, which would revise energy conservation and efficiency standards.

The Senate Government Affairs Committee will consider Senate Bill 239, providing for more coordination of Nevada's economic development and work force development goals. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee will review work place safety measures, including Senate Bill 288, which calls for more safety training and enforcement.

Senate-Assembly budget subcommittees will continue their work sessions with discussions involving federal efforts to open a high-level nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, consumer health assistance and the state Gaming Control Board.

Also on Wednesday, Senate and Assembly education committees will review proposed charter school legislation and hear tennis great Andre Agassi discuss his Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy.

On Thursday, joint budget panels will review the governor's proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services and the state Aging Services Division; and spending plans for the agencies handling business-industry and taxation programs.

The Assembly Corrections, Parole and Probation Committee will discuss Assembly Bill 424, which would make wide-ranging changes in inmate parole standards, including one that the state Parole Board not consider the severity of an inmate's crime and instead focus on whether the inmate can stay out of trouble once released from prison.

The Senate Taxation Committee considers Senate Bill 289, which would give tax credits to business that donate to entities that provide tuition grants that enable children to attend private, charter or "empowerment" schools.

The Assembly Transportation Committee considers Assembly Bill 524 and Assembly Bill 464, which provide for toll road "demonstration projects" on Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95 in the Las Vegas area, and also as part of the Boulder City bypass project.

The Assembly Elections, Procedures, Ethics and Constitutional Amendments Committee will review Assembly Bill 442, which would impose restrictions on lobbying.

On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up Senate Bill 372, which would allow smoking in bars that serve food as long as minors are restricted from entry. Also, businesses could wall off separately smoking rooms.

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee considers Assembly Bill 458, which would create an education stabilization account for K-12 education and decrease abatements offered by redevelopment agencies, economic development zones and the state Economic Development Commission.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee will review Senate Bill 211, requiring drug makers and wholesalers to file annual reports disclosing gifts and other "economic benefits" provided to Nevada doctors.