The 71st Legislative Session is coming to the end of its 120-day timetable, and legislative business is moving along at a good speed. The Census Bureau in the latter portion of March released the census data for Nevada. As expected, the population figures for our state have soared over the past 10 years to reach 1,998,257 with a growth rate over 60 percent. We know Nevada is the fastest-growing state in the nation. Our dramatic population increase has presented two great tasks for the Legislature to confront — reapportionment and creating a budget that meets Nevada’s growing needs.
The process of reapportionment and redistricting will be a challenge. New district lines must be drawn for the state assembly, state senate, Board of Regents, and state Board of Education. In addition, the Legislature is charged with drawing three Congressional Districts for the first time in Nevada’s history. The test will be to create equally apportioned districts that meet the approval of the senate, assembly, and governor. While redistricting in addition to writing and debating over 1,200 bills, legislators must meet the various deadlines established under the 120-day legislative calendar.
This session many bills are under consideration, which is business as usual. However, the bill load might be lighter than recent years, which should provide ample time for redistricting bills to be heard and decided upon. The budget will be very tight this session. Actual revenues have fallen below projections. With this knowledge, legislators will have to prioritize and make some difficult budget decisions. Constituents are contacting many legislators and voicing their concerns over programs and services that may need to be limited or cut due to a lack of available funding. The Nevada Supreme Court struck down the initiative petition known as the teachers’ business tax. The teacher’s union has continued to search for ways to find money. There has been an outpouring of interest from many Nevada teachers, parents and students concerned about education, especially teacher salaries. Unless the public is ready to pay more taxes, it is not likely that teachers will get an across-the-board pay raise under this session’s budget. However, the governor has recommended and the Senate Finance Committee has introduced a bill to address in some measure the teacher salary concerns. This would provide a 5 percent, one-time bonus for all teachers this year.
Restructuring electric utilities in light of California’s recent power woes has become an important issue to Nevada. As a preemptive action, Governor Guinn indefinitely postponed further efforts to deregulate the power industry in Nevada. After the intermittent power outages in neighboring California that are expected to continue into the summer, Governor Guinn and many in the Nevada Legislature wanted to make sure Nevada’s plan for electrical deregulation is a sound proposition. The Legislature does not want to rush into anything that may have the potential of placing Nevada’s power supplies in jeopardy, especially for Southern Nevada where there is certain to be a usage increase during the hot summer months.
The medical use of marijuana is another issue facing legislators. The people of Nevada voted in two consecutive general elections in 1998 and 2000 for ballot question number 9. Question 9 called for a change in Nevada’s constitution to create an allowance for patients to use medical marijuana for the treatment of certain medical conditions including AIDS and cancer. The Legislature now has a constitutional obligation to act on the electorate’s choice.
A number of bills written to alter or eliminate Nevada’s use of capital punishment have been introduced. AB 353 would ban the death penalty for mentally retarded people and SB 254 would abolish the death penalty completely. SB 254 would also reduce current death row inmate sentences to life imprisonment without parole. These are issues which are subject to intense debate.
Between now and June 4, the last day of the session, many important decisions will have to be made. Legislators will be busy with meetings, conferences, speeches and compromises, many hours of work and few hours of sleep. The outcome of their actions will influence the lives of Nevadans for years to come.