Nevada Legislature briefly 5-3

State planning bill approved in Assembly

Legislation requiring the state to plan long-term was approved by the Assembly Saturday.

Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, sponsored AB446 said the purpose of the bill is "to ensure we never find ourselves in such dire circumstances again."

AB 446 would require the Governor to establish goals for critical state services and make all agencies report to the Governor and the Legislature how they are doing in meeting those goals.

The bill goes to the Senate.

Flu hot line opens

The Nevada Health Division has set up a toll-free hotline for people with questions about the H1N1 flu virus.

A spokesman said the hotline is available 24/7 and offer bi-lingual health professionals to answer questions. She warned the call volume is likely to be high so people should be patient. If the call is a medical emergency, Martha Framsted of the Health Division said callers should hang up and dial 9-1-1 instead.

The number of the hot line is 866-767-5038.

Western Nevada residents also can call the Washoe County District Health Department at 325-8140. Southern Nevada residents can call 702-759-4636. Both of those hot lines also offer bilingual service.

Lawmakers add $1.6 million back to Cultural Affairs

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee Saturday voted to add $1.636 million in General Fund and about a half million in other money back to the Cultural Affairs Department.

 Gov. Jim Gibbons had proposed cuts totaling some $12 million for the department " a reduction of 40 percent.

But lawmakers decided they couldn't support shutting down programs and drastically limiting access to libraries, museums, the historical society and archives.

But they kept in the governor's decision to reduce most curators and directors in the department to 32 hours a week.

Nevada State Museum in Carson City will cut back to four days per week instead of seven. The Railroad Museum in the Capital will also cut back to four days a week.

Nevada State Library will operate five days a week, but for only four hours each day under the plan. State Archives also will open to the public four hours a day, five days a week. Gibbons had proposed closing it entirely to the public and eliminating the archivist's position.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to follow the same recommendations in closing the Cultural Affairs budget this coming week.