Lawmakers hurry to beat bill deadline

CARSON CITY -- More than 60 measures were proposed Friday in the Nevada Legislature as lawmakers rushed to meet a Monday deadline for bill introductions by individual lawmakers.

The proposals, dealing with subjects ranging from health care to prisoner rights and identity theft, are expected to be followed by more than 100 new measures on Monday. That would push the legislation total so far in the 2009 session to more than 700.

Among the bills that were introduced Friday was Senate Bill 229, to ensure that foreign-trained doctors who get visas on the condition that they work in "medically underserved" areas actually provide care in those areas. Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, authored the bill.

Senate Bill 238, authored by Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, expedites the restoration of civil rights to ex-felons providing there are no objections from a sentencing judge or from the prosecutor in the case.

Another new measure, Senate Bill 227, authored by Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, requires that personal data that is transmitted electronically be encrypted to prevent identity theft.

In the Assembly, Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, introduced a resolution urging the state to take advantage of work already done on the nuclear waste repository that the federal government wants to open at Yucca Mountain, and push for a nuclear fuels reprocessing facility at the site that would create jobs and help the state's economy.

Foreign nationals would be affected by Assembly Bill 347, introduced by Cobb and 13 other Republican legislators. The measure would prevent a person from getting various state benefits if the person isn't a U.S. citizen, would prohibit a punitive damages award to a foreign national and would make noncitizens ineligible for the Nevada Millennium Scholarship.

Asssemblyman Joe Hogan, D-Las Vegas, introduced Assembly Bill 321, which would temporarily shift sales taxes that go to the Southern Nevada Water Authority to state coffers to help reduce the state's budget shortfall.

First-time homeowners would get a one-year abatement of property taxes if they bought a foreclosed home under Assembly Bill 328, introduced by Assemblyman James Settelmeyer, R-Gardnerville.