LEGISLATIVE BRIEFS

VIVID DANCER DAMSELFLY

Assembly sends bug bill to the governor

The Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a bill to name the vivid dancer damselfly the state bug, sending the Senate-endorsed plan to Gov. Jim Gibbons for his signature.

Students from JBeatty Elementary School in Las Vegas won a statewide contest to select the winged creature as worthy of official state treatment.

The fourth-graders selected the bug because its blue and silver wings reflect the state's colors.

VOTERS TO DECIDE

Intermediate appeals court endorsed

The Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a proposed intermediate appeals court that would be sandwiched between the Supreme Court and Nevada's district courts.

The proposal will go to voters in 2010 for final approval.

Advocates of Senate Joint Resolution 9 say the appeals court is needed because of the increasing litigation that stems from Nevada's rapid growth.

Nevada is one of just 11 states that don't have an intermediate appellate court, requiring the state Supreme Court to resolve all appeals.

INDIGENT CARE

Lawmakers postpone hospital decision

Nevada officials are postponing for up to a year any changes in a formula that helps hospitals that care for a "disproportionate share" of people who can't pay their medical bills.

"We were not set up to solve the problem," Chuck Duarte, administrator for the Division of Healthcare Financing and Policy, told the Senate Finance committee on Monday.

Five hospitals in the state are not currently compensated for their care of indigents, which violates federal law, Duarte has said. But because of the current funding formula the state runs out of money before it can pay them.