NEVADA LEGISLATURE BILLS

• PRIMARY SEAT BELT LAW: The Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 42, which would allow police to cite any motorist they see not wearing a seat belt. Currently, police cannot pull over motorists for simply failing to wear a seat belt but first must stop them for another offense.

• ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: The Assembly on Monday night unanimously approved Assembly Bill 383, which would allow the state Tax Commission to pull the business licenses of companies that hire undocumented workers. That would not occur until Congress passes legislation on what it plans to do with illegal immigrants. The bill also creates a new felony crime of trafficking in human beings.

• ENGLISH — OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: The Senate passed Senate Bill 325, which would make English the official language of Nevada. All official records and proceedings of the state would have to be in English. Non-English speakers would be encouraged to master English.

• MILLENNIUM SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: The Senate approved Senate Bill 52, which would allow illegal immigrants to receive Millennium Scholarships if they sign affidavits that they would seek citizenship. University officials testified that no more than 94 students who are not citizens now receive the scholarship.

• NO MILLENNIUM SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: The Senate also approved Sen. Joe Heck’s Senate Bill 415 to deny Millennium Scholarships, student loans and other benefits to noncitizens attending state colleges and universities. The Assembly will have to sort through the conflicting bills.

• NO TIP SHARING WITH CASINO SUPERVISORS: The Assembly on Tuesday revived Assemblyman Bob Beers’ plan to stop Wynn Las Vegas and other casinos from requiring dealers to share tips with casino supervisors. Assembly Bill 248 was approved in the last Assembly vote Tuesday before the deadline for passing legislation out of one house.

• TEEN SMOKING: The Senate approved Sen. Mike McGinness’ Senate Bill 14, which would levy a $25 fine on teenagers under 18 who are caught smoking. The fine would increase to $50 with the second offense.

• DISCOUNT PRESCRIPTION DRUG CARD: The Assembly unanimously approved Assemblyman Joe Hardy’s Assembly Bill 6, which would allow Clark County to participate in a National Association of Counties discount drug program. Residents would be eligible for a card that has brought rural Nevada residents discounts that average 20 percent.

• CERVICAL CANCER VACCINE: After much debate, the Senate on Monday voted in favor of Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus’ Senate Bill 409, which would require insurance companies to make a cervical cancer vaccine available for young women.

• STATE LOTTERY: The Assembly approved a constitutional amendment, Assembly Joint Resolution 3, that would allow a state lottery with profits going to buy school supplies. The bill needs Senate approval and a positive vote from citizens.

• PRISONER RELEASE: The Senate approved Senate Bill 30, which would allow county sheriffs to release nonviolent prisoners from jails that are operating at capacity. Sheriffs would petition the chief district judge to allow the release.

• OPEN MEETINGS: The Assembly unanimously approved Assembly Bill 433, which instructs the Nevada Tax Commission to deliberate and vote in public in cases in which a company or person seeks a tax rebate. The commission can go behind closed doors only to receive confidential business information.

• CHILD DEATHS: The Assembly unanimously approved Speaker Barbara Buckley’s Assembly Bill 261, which would require child welfare agencies to release more information about children who died or nearly died in cases of abuse or neglect. They would have to release the information, including the cause of the injury and photographs of the child, within 48 hours after a fatality or five days after a near-fatality.

• PUBLIC COURT RECORDS: The Assembly approved Assemblyman Bernie Anderson’s Assembly Bill 519, which would block judges from sealing court decisions and civil court actions at their discretion. The bill was prompted by Review-Journal stories that 115 court cases were sealed by Clark County judges between 2000 and 2006.

• GUNS ON CAMPUS: The Senate approved Senate Bill 354, which would increase the penalty for unlawfully carrying a gun onto the grounds of a public school or a campus of the Nevada System of Higher Education to a felony from a gross misdemeanor. Anyone arrested for the crime would have to submit to a mental evaluation as ordered by a District Court.

• HANDS OFF GUNS: The Assembly approved Assembly Bill 95, which would make it clear that the governor, state agency leaders, police and local governments, may not confiscate firearms from citizens during times of emergencies. Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, the bill’s sponsor, said that during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans, police supervisors ordered the confiscation of firearms from citizens.

• PAY RAISES: The Senate narrowly passed Senate Bill 516, which would increase the pay of county elected officials. In Clark County, the pay of the sheriff would rise 16.85 percent from $134,263 to $156,892 on July 1. Other officials could see increases. Clark County commissioners could vote to increase their own pay by 43.5 percent from $68,390 to $98,142.

• ALTERNATIVE DIPLOMA: The Senate approved Senate Bill 312, which would create an alternative method to obtain a diploma for students who cannot pass all parts of the high school proficiency exam. The state Board of Education will set the regulations for the alternative path, which would include among the options an essay or senior project.

 

DEAD BILLS

• TRAFFIC CAMERAS: The Senate voted on Tuesday to reject Senate Bill 61, which would have allowed police to use cameras to gather evidence to cite motorists for traffic violations.

• TAX AND SPENDING CONTROL IN NEVADA (TASC): For the second consecutive session, the Senate Finance Committee killed Sen. Bob Beers’ proposed constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 3, to limit state spending to the combined rate of inflation and population growth.

• HELMETS ON BICYCLISTS: Sen. Valerie Wiener’s Senate Bill 207 to require children under age 18 to wear helmets while on bicycles was allowed to die by the Senate Transportation Committee.

• REGULATION OF TANNING BUSINESSES: Assembly Bill 230, which would have required tanning businesses to keep track of the use of tanning booths by patrons and ban children from using booths without parent’s permission, died Monday. The bill was prompted by skin cancer concerns.

• PRESCRIPTIONS FOR SUDAFED: The Assembly Health and Human Services Committee killed a provision in Assemblyman Bernie Anderson’s Assembly Bill 150, which would have required people to secure prescriptions to buy Sudafed and other cold remedies and decongestants containing pseudoephedrine. The ingredient is used in making methamphetamine.

• PROTESTS AT MILITARY FUNERALS: The Assembly Judiciary Committee let Assemblyman Lynn Stewart’s Assembly Bill 159, which would have banned protests at funerals for service members, die without a vote. Stewart wanted to stop groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., from showing up and upsetting mourners at funerals of service members.

• TEACHERS ARMED WITH GUNS: The Senate Human Resources Committee voted to kill Sen. Bob Beers’ Senate Bill 286, which would have allowed teachers with appropriate training to carry guns on campus.

• CUTTING CAR REGISTRATION FEES: Sen. Bob Beers’ Senate Bill 96 to cut in half the money people pay in annual car registration fees was allowed to die without a vote in the Senate Taxation Committee.

• MOTORCYCLE HELMETS: A bill to repeal the law requiring motorcyclists to wear safety helmets died in the Senate Transportation Committee. Sen. Bob Beers’ Senate Bill 49 was allowed to die without a vote.

• NO BENEFITS FOR NONCITIZENS: The Assembly Judiciary Committee let Assemblyman Ty Cobb’s bill to deny most benefits to noncitizens die without a hearing.

• SIGNS ON SIDEWALKS: The Senate Government Affairs Committee let Sen. Terry Care’s Senate Bill 13 die without a vote. Care wanted to overturn a Clark County ordinance he said allowed police to arrest people for carrying signs protesting the war or praising Jesus Christ on sidewalks.

• OVERSIGHT OF UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: The Senate Human Resources Committee gutted Senate Bill 533, which would have required an appointed board to oversee the financially troubled University Medical Center. Instead, the bill passed with the requirement that an audit of UMC be conducted and that a few minor changes be made in oversight of the hospital.