Pubdate: Mon, 07 Feb 2005
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2005 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Anjeanette Damon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/marijuana+initiative
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

LAWMAKERS OPEN SESSION

Speaker Opens Assembly With Rebuke and Apology

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins opened the 73rd Legislature on Monday
with a rebuke and an apology for the political acrimony that marred
the 2003 tax debate and called for bipartisan cooperation this year.

"We made the joint mistake of false pride and misplaced loyalty,"
Perkins, D-Henderson, said. "We, all of us, myself included, allowed
ourselves to get sucked into behavior that not only delayed action, it
demeaned the institution we serve."

After the Assembly elected him to a third term as Speaker, Perkins
delivered a 15-minute speech outlining the Democrats' agenda, calling
for a hike in the minimum wage, stronger ethics laws and a focus on
health care.

He also set out his own agenda, including new benefits for Nevada's
National Guard members, a $500 check to elementary school teachers for
classroom supplies and a property tax exemption to ease soaring tax
bills.

Such a speech was absent from the Senate, where Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt
gave her last opening address and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio,
R-Reno, dispensed housekeeping details, such as reminding members to
be on time.

"The Republicans in the Senate, we do by action, not by press
release," Raggio quipped, when asked about the Republicans' agenda.

Raggio has said his priority is crafting the proposed $6 billion
spending plan and figuring out what to do with a budget surplus of
nearly $500 million.

"I'm not going to give the gubernatorial address that was given down
the hall," Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said on the
Senate floor before introducing her family.

Both Titus and Perkins have indicated they will run for governor in
2006.

So began opening-day ceremonies, which included the swearing-in of the
Legislature's 63 members amid their friends and family.

Nearly 90 bills were introduced, including measures in the Assembly
that would prohibit expiration dates on retail gift cards and
certificates, fund full-day kindergarten in some schools, exempt
Nevada from daylight savings time and allow police to use remote
cameras to catch speeders and red-light runners.

Bills introduced in the Senate included measures that would require
Nevada to meet the national per-pupil spending average in education,
criminalize video voyeurism and require insurance companies to pay for
cancer screenings.

Three initiative petitions also were submitted. Two would regulate
indoor smoking. A third would legalize the possession of 1 ounce of
marijuana by an adult. If the Legislature does not enact the proposed
laws, they will go on the 2006 ballot for voters to decide.

In his opening remarks, Perkins vowed the Assembly would not pass the
marijuana legalization bill.

"The link between drug use and crime is clear," Perkins said. "I'm not
going to make it any easier."

Perkins' other proposals included a state-funded $250,000 life
insurance policy for guard members and a sales tax exemption for
families of active-duty members. He also would require hospitals owned
by out-of-state corporations to use part of their profits for local
programs.

And he proposed using the budget surplus to endow the cash-strapped
Millennium Scholarship program instead of selling $100 million in
bonds as proposed by Treasurer Brian Krolicki and backed by Guinn.

Showing some bi-partisanship, Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick,
R-Gardnerville, agreed with Perkins on the Millennium Scholarship
bonds, the opposition to legalizing marijuana and stricter ethics laws.

And he said voter support of a minimum wage increase last year would
probably drive legislative action on it this year, even though
Republicans are philosophically opposed to it.

But he disagreed with Perkins' property tax exemption suggestion,
saying it would do nothing to provide relief for owners of expensive
homes and would bankrupt county governments that rely on income from
lower-priced homes.

And he called the Speaker's proposals for military benefits and
teachers "feel good" measures.

"I don't know where the money is going to come from," he
said.

In 2003, Hettrick led an anti-tax bloc of Assembly Republicans, dubbed
the "Mean 15", which forced two special sessions before the $833
million tax hike was passed.

Perkins said he and Hettrick "abandoned" a working relationship "in
favor of partisan bickering" in 2003.

Hettrick said he didn't take offense.

"I think he distributed the wealth equally," he said. "Everyone's
concerned about the carryover of animosity. This is a good starting
point. It applies to everyone."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake