Legislative Briefly

Bill orders performance study of state agencies

The Senate is reviewing a bill that would require the budget director to evaluate the quality and quantity of services rendered by state agencies.

Under SB346, agencies would be measured against their own performance indicators and would be required not only to develop those indicators but to review and measure performance, submitting that information to the budget division and legislative fiscal division.

The bill was referred to the Finance Committee for study.

RSVP would get $1 million under proposal

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee was asked Monday to appropriate $1 million to Nevada's rural Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

Sponsor Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, said the appropriation would actually save the state money by helping support programs including independent living, lifeline and respite care.

"These programs will save the state millions of dollars by preventing or delaying institutional care," she testified.

RSVP Director Janice Ayres said her volunteers provide services at far less cost, from home companion services to exercise, transportation to medical and other appointments, respite care and legal services.

She said the program this year "has kept 800 seniors home and happy."

The committee took no action on the bill.

Tax for safety programs authorized

Legislation to allow local governments to impose taxes for transportation safety and homeland security was introduced in the Senate Monday.

SB357 would require voters approval, and would limit the tax to no more than 30 years. The bill was referred to the Taxation Committee for study.

Bill would open sealed records for police applicants

Criminal and other sealed records would be opened when someone applies to become a police officer under SB353.

The bill proposed by the Judiciary Committee would authorize law enforcement agencies to inspect the records of job seekers and use those records in hiring decisions. The bill would also require applicants to disclose any criminal history.

The bill was referred back to Judiciary for review.

Automated cameras would issue citations

The Assembly Monday received a new version of legislation that would let law enforcement issue traffic citations based on automated camera evidence.

Existing law prohibits issuing tickets based on automated red light cameras alone. The equipment must be hand-held by an officer or installed in his car to be used as evidence for a ticket. AB504 removes that requirement.

The ticket would be issued and mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle and include the camera's photo image of the car and driver.

The system is supported by companies that contract with local law enforcement to install and operate the camera systems in return for a percentage of the revenues collected.

Similar legislation has been killed in previous sessions.

Academic planning would extend to middle school under proposal

The Assembly has received a proposal that would extend the requirements for academic planning now required in high school to middle school students.

AB487 extends the high school requirements developed by Assembly Education Chairman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, to students entering middle school.

It would mandate development of plans for each incoming junior high student.

In addition, the bill would establish a program of peer and adult mentoring for new middle school pupils and mandate at least one conference of the student's educational progress.

Parnell's Education Committee will study the proposal.

Amendment would revise rules for petitions

A proposed amendment introduced in the Assembly Monday takes a third shot at finding a constitutional way of mandating how signatures are collected to put an initiative petition on the ballot.

The long-standing constitutional rule required signatures from at least 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the last election in three-quarters of the state's counties to put a petition on the ballot. That "13 county rule" was overturned by the federal courts as a violation of the one-man-one-vote rule.

Lawmakers then tried a statutory system requiring 10 percent of the turnout from the last election with signatures from all 17 counties in proportion to their percentage of the total overall vote. That plan was also rejected by a federal judge who said it allowed a small county to block the wishes of the vast majority of voters.

AJR16 would use the state's congressional districts instead, mandating that 10 percent of the voter turnout in each district be collected to make the ballot.

In order to become part of the constitution, it must win legislative approval in two consecutive sessions, then win a vote of the people.

The plan was referred to Elections, Procedures, Ethics and Constitutional Amendments.

Supreme Court reports to Legislature

Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Hardesty will present the State of the Judiciary address at noon today in the Assembly Chambers before the combined membership of the Senate and Assembly.

The speech will be streamed live over the Nevada Legislature website at www.leg.state.nv.us. Go to Live Meetings at the upper right hand side of the homepage.

Bill would mandate study of tax exemptions and abatements

The Department of Taxation would be required to do a cost-benefit analysis on sales and property tax abatements and exemptions under AB492.

The bill was introduced in the Assembly Monday and referred to the Taxation Committee for study.

It requires the department to prepare biennial reports for the Legislature on whether the costs of any abatements and exemptions exceed the benefits they provide.