Lawmakers to look at stimulus

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers start their fifth week of the 2009 session on Monday with a review of the nearly $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funds coming to Nevada and debate on how much it will actually reduce a huge state revenue shortfall.

A joint Senate-Assembly hearing and a separate Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee hearing are scheduled for the review, covering topics including use of the money for unemployment benefits along with renewable energy and other economic development projects.

Preliminary staff analyses indicate that only a third of the stimulus dollars can go into the state general fund for education and Medicaid, while the state budget shortfall has been pegged at $2.4 billion.

Also Monday, the state Senate Finance Committee plans a hearing on the Public Employee Retirement System and potential impact of Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed budget cuts on benefits for former and current government workers.

Representatives of the system have said benefits could be cut or the retirement age could be raised to help hold down costs. The system has incurred big investment losses.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee plans a hearing on measures dealing with domestic violence and battery.

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee will review a bill appropriating funds for programs that help people with traumatic brain injuries.

Also Monday, the Senate may vote on a bill to bring Nevada into compliance with the federal Real ID law, aimed at making it tougher for terrorists, illegal immigrants and others to get official identification.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will review a bill excluding the judiciary from laws governing access to public records.

On Tuesday, the state's welfare programs and the potential impact of Gibbons' budget reductions on those programs will be discussed at a joint Senate-Assembly subcommittee meeting.

Senate Judiciary Committee members will discuss a bill to expand the investigative powers of police before they're armed with a search warrant from a judge. Senate Bill 51 was held up previously because of constitutional concerns it raised.

An Assembly health and human services subcommittee will discuss Assembly Bill 6, which revises the provisions governing emergency admissions to mental hospitals.

On Wednesday, Nevada's economic development efforts will be discussed at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Senate Bill 152, the "green jobs" initiative pushed by Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, will be debated in the Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee.

Assembly Bill 187, which would set up a specialized court for veterans struggling to readjust to civilian life, will be reviewed in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. The court plan, sponsored chiefly by Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, with dozens of co-sponsors, would be geared toward substance abuse and mental health treatment.

On Thursday, the Senate Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee takes up Senate Bill 115, which would require the state and various local governments in Southern Nevada to work cooperatively on plans for a light rail system between Henderson and North Las Vegas.

A joint Senate-Assembly Taxation Committee hearing is scheduled to hear comments on Nevada's financial structure.

On Friday, a Senate-Assembly budget hearing is scheduled on Nevada's K-12 school system. Another joint budget hearing is planned on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, targeted for cuts in the governor's spending plans for the coming two fiscal years.

Also Friday, the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee will review Assembly Bill 148, which requires more safety training for construction workers.