Increase in fees debated

CARSON CITY -- Wedding chapel lobbyists and advocates for programs to stop domestic violence clashed Friday over a bill to help fund those programs by adding $5 to the cost of a Nevada marriage license.

The chapel lobbyists, backed by Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, a minister, want to scrap the fee and retain a second $5 fee increase in Senate Bill 14 for official copies of marriage certificates, a levy that would provide more funding for the programs.

While the Assembly Judiciary Committee didn't vote on the bill, some panel members said they favored both the increase in license fees, which would generate about $600,000 a year, and the increase for marriage certificate copies, which would raise about $1 million a year.

Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, added that he didn't think the extra $5 on marriage license fees was that big a deal, despite arguments by the chapel advocates that it could keep some couples with limited funds from getting married in Nevada.

Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, also was skeptical about the chapel lobbyists' arguments. Assemblywoman Marilyn Dondero-Loop, D-Las Vegas, added programs to prevent domestic violence are critical and she supports "any fees that will help any of us in the future."

Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, the bill's sponsor, noted it was approved with both fees on a 21-0 vote in the state Senate, and that included a "yes" vote from Washington.

Also supporting the bill was Susan Meuschke, executive director of the Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, who said the two fees would help cover an "enormous shortfall" faced by her program and others around the state.

Joni Kaiser, executive director of the Committee to Aid Abused Women, also endorsed the bill, saying, "Without its passage, desperation will be the name of the game."

Washington said lawmakers could improve the domestic violence program funding by doubling the proposed $5 increase in charges for marriage certificate copies, a move that wouldn't add to wedding-day costs because the certificates usually are requested at a later date.

Other critics of the $5 increase in license fees included George Flint of the Chapel of the Bells in Reno, and his daughter, Margaret Flint, representing Reno and Las Vegas wedding chapels.