Legislative Briefly 4/29

Committees agree with TRPA cuts

The joint subcommittee reviewing Tahoe Regional Planning Agency budgets Tuesday agreed with the governor's plan to reduce Nevada's contribution to the bi-state agency.

Nevada has historically provided one-third of the TRPA budget while California paid two-thirds. Gov. Jim Gibbons, however, provided only enough money in his recommended budget to cover a quarter of the total budget.

Restoring Nevada's funding to one-third would have required an additional $728,000.

Only Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, voted against the plan, which must still be ratified by the full Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees.

Local government authority bills heard

The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee heard testimony supporting two studies Tuesday dealing with the power of local governments to manage their own affairs.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, introduced SB264, which would study the powers the state delegates to local governments.

Care said they end up waiting until the next legislative session while the problem gets worse.

Care's bill was backed by city and county officials who said there is a chance that giving local officials more power to manage their own affairs would not only help them but reduce the load on the Legislature.

The second proposal came from Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas. SB294, he said, was generated by concerns that the complex formulas that divide up property and other taxes don't operate fairly for all the entities.

The committee took no action on either proposal.