MINUTES OF THE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Sixty-eighth Session May 4, 1995 The Committee on Government Affairs was called to order at 8:00 a.m., on Thursday, May 4, 1995, Chairman Joan A. Lambert presiding in Room 330 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Douglas A. Bache, Chairman Mrs. Joan A. Lambert, Chairman Mrs. Deanna Braunlin, Vice Chairman Mr. P.M. Roy Neighbors, Vice Chairman Mr. Max Bennett Mrs. Marcia de Braga Mr. Pete Ernaut Mrs. Vivian L. Freeman Ms. Saundra (Sandi) Krenzer Mr. Dennis Nolan Mrs. Gene Wines Segerblom Ms. Patricia A. Tripple Mr. Wendell P. Williams COMMITTEE MEMBERS EXCUSED: Mr. William Z. (Bill) Harrington STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Ms. Denice Miller, Senior Research Analyst OTHERS PRESENT: Ms. Kathryn McClain, Legislative Analyst, Administrative Services, Clark County; Mr. Ken West, Chief Deputy Controller, Controller's Office, State of Nevada; Ms. Pat Eischeid, Chief, Internal Audit Division, Department of Administration; Ms. Sonia Martin, Nevada Pharmacists Association (see also Exhibit B attached hereto). SENATE BILL NO. 280 - Authorizes additional counties to establish medical scholarships for persons who agree to return to the county to practice medicine. Ms. Kathryn McClain, Legislative Analyst, Administrative Services, Clark County, testified. She provided written testimony (Exhibit C) which she reviewed orally. She advised the purpose of S.B. 280 was to allow Clark County to award scholarships to medical students as an incentive for those students to practice medicine in rural areas. She indicated NRS provided for such scholarships to be given by the less populous counties of Nevada but, because of the population limitation imposed by NRS 244.3821, Clark County was unable to participate in the scholarship program. She explained all of Clark County, except its metropolitan area, qualified as a federally designated health professional shortage area. Assemblyman Neighbors asked why a provision imposing a population limitation was included in S.B. 280. Ms. McClain responded Clark County originally drafted S.B. 280 to refer to medically under served areas but wording was changed by the Legislative Counsel Bureau. Assemblyman Freeman asked whether Clark County would oppose including language in S.B. 280 which would include nurses under its provisions. Ms. McClain replied Clark County would not. Assemblyman Tripple asked how long federal funds had been available to provide medical scholarships for the purpose of making medical services available to rural areas. Ms. McClain replied she was not certain. She advised federal government and state government each provided one-third of the funds for such scholarships and the remaining one-third was provided at the local level. Ms. Tripple asked whether, if nurses were included in the provisions of S.B. 280, state and federal funds would be available for nursing scholarships. Ms. McClain replied she was not certain but believed she could obtain the answer to Ms. Tripple's question from the rural health office of the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR). Assemblyman Segerblom asked whether there was a population figure which was used to define "rural." Ms. McClain replied she had spoken with a representative of UNR's rural health office, who advised her several criteria were used (to define rural) and said the rural health office could provide information concerning those criteria if the committee wished it. Chairman Lambert referred to subsection 2 of Section 3 of S.B. 280 and asked whether Ms. McClain believed the language included therein was written clearly enough to ensure a physician would return to a less populous, rural community to practice medicine. Ms. McClain responded, rather than merely removing the population limitation from NRS, in order to allow Clark County to participate in the program to provide medical scholarships, an attempt was made in S.B. 280 to distinguish between rural and metropolitan areas so that "...we don't have a bunch of the medical students going to Las Vegas..." Ms. Tripple asked whether use of the word "nonmetropolitan" would serve to provide the distinction Ms. McClain just discussed. Ms. McClain replied she was not certain whether or not it would. Chairman Lambert closed the hearing on S.B. 280. ASSEMBLYMAN ERNAUT MOVED DO PASS S.B. 280. Discussions were held among committee members Mrs. Freeman said she would like to pursue the question of whether nurses could be included under the provisions of S.B. 280. Assemblyman Bennett suggested the language of S.B. 280 which read "to induce students in the medical professions" would include nurses. Mr. Ernaut withdrew his motion to do pass S.B. 280. SENATE BILL NO. 289 - Revises authority of state board of examiners regarding payment of claims from money appropriated or authorized by legislature. Mr. Ken West, Chief Deputy Controller, Controller's Office, State of Nevada, testified. He explained, when processing documents in the state's accounting system, it was necessary to ensure "...that the quality of the recording is proper and, in case of vouchers, that they cause a warrant to be paid that is proper." He advised those documents were examined both by the Board of Examiners and by the Controller's Office. He stated, by means of computer, the Controller's Office checked to ensure funds were appropriated or authorization was given to pay vouchers. He said the Pre-Audit Section of the Department of Administration reviewed accounting documents to determine whether or not claims were proper, invoices were properly totaled and all information was properly recorded. Mr. West indicated it had been questioned whether or not there was a need to review every voucher specified in NRS. He stated NRS was interpreted as meaning every voucher must be reviewed. He explained the purpose of such review was to ensure "... a certain quality level in this process is maintained." He said it was believed the same assurance could be obtained through modern techniques of sampling and by changing the control system, which was the basis for the changes to NRS 353 proposed by S.B. 289. He advised the language of S.B. 289 would allow use of those modern techniques to be investigated. He contended those techniques must be acceptable both to the Board of Examiners and to the Controller's Office. Ms. Pat Eischeid, Chief, Internal Audit Division, Department of Administration, testified. She advised, during the interim between legislative sessions and while the present legislature was in session, the Internal Audit Division had monitored all batches of vouchers submitted by state agencies to ensure accuracy and to ensure vouchers would be processed within a given period of time. She advised the Internal Audit Division tested all batches of vouchers and determined the error rate in those batches. She said, if a state agency had an unacceptable error rate in its vouchers, the Internal Audit Division would not review samplings of that agency's vouchers but would review each and every one of them until such time as the division could explain to the agency the source of its errors and what to do to correct them. Mr. Bennett asked whether, if some state agencies had an unacceptable error rate, the unacceptable error rate should not be addressed by S.B. 289. Ms. Eischeid replied there was a wide range in the error rates of state agencies and explained the cause of high error rates. She said the Internal Audit Division worked with state agencies to teach them the source of their errors and what to do to eliminate those errors and suggested that process would address the problem. Mrs. Tripple asked, "You can't do this now? You can't do the sampling." She indicated she saw nothing in the applicable statute which prohibited sampling. Ms. Eischeid replied the Internal Audit Division believed it could utilize sampling but had received "...arguments from everybody regarding their insecurity in using the current law to do this." She advised those who submitted those arguments wanted the law to contain a specific statement which would allow sampling to be used. Mrs. Freeman asked how long it would take to write regulations pursuant to the provisions of S.B. 289 and to make them available for the committee to review. Mr. West responded. He said the Board of Examiners was excluded from those statutes which required regulations be promulgated. Chairman Lambert asked Mr. West whether the Board of Examiners was exempt from NRS 233B. He replied it was but said the Board of Examiners did write regulations. Chairman Lambert commented those regulations would not have the force and effect of law which regulations written pursuant to NRS 233B had. Mr. West responded he was not certain those regulations did not have the same force and effect of law as those written pursuant to NRS 233B. Ms. Eischeid gave further testimony. She said the volume of paper handled by the Division of Internal Audit had increased by more than 100 percent over the past two years. She indicated the division had to deal with this increased volume of paperwork with no additional staff and under the same conditions as existed when it dealt with the lesser volume. She declared, "...this (the provisions of S.B. 289) was the one avenue open to us to give us the benefit of allowing those people who do a good job to move through the system as rapidly as possible." Mr. Bennett asked whether anyone had requested a legal opinion (as to whether current statute did or did not permit sampling of vouchers). Mr. West replied the state controller had not sought a formal legal opinion but had been advised it would be best to seek to have the law provide for the use of modern auditing techniques. Mr. Bennett suggested the state controller should seek a formal legal opinion. Chairman Lambert closed the hearing on S.B. 289. Chairman Lambert advised the committee that the sponsor of A.B. 513 had requested the hearing on A.B. 513 be postponed. A work session was held. ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 379 - Increases amount of longevity payments to state employees and requires state agencies to pay fees for insurance or renewal of certain licenses required of certain state employees. Assemblyman Bache provided a proposed amendment to A.B. 379 (Exhibit D) which he explained to the committee. Discussions were held among the committee regarding the proposed amendment (Exhibit D). ASSEMBLYMAN ERNAUT MOVED AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 379. ASSEMBLYMAN BACHE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED. Chairman Lambert assigned A.B. 379 to Mr. Bache for the purpose of making a floor statement. ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 403 - Revises definition of "allocable local revenues" for purposes of provisions governing issuance of state securities to acquire revenue securities issued by municipality. Chairman Lambert reviewed the purpose of A.B. 403. ASSEMBLYMAN NOLAN MOVED DO PASS A.B. 403. ASSEMBLYMAN TRIPPLE SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED. Chairman Lambert assigned A.B. 403 to Mr. Nolan for the purpose of making a floor statement. ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 417 - Increases fees charged by county sheriff. ASSEMBLYMAN BACHE MOVED TO INDEFINITELY POSTPONE A.B. 417. ASSEMBLYMAN BENNETT SECONDED THE MOTION. Discussions were held among committee members. THE MOTION CARRIED; ASSEMBLYMEN DE BRAGA AND TRIPPLE VOTED "NO." ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 487 - Requires chief of purchasing division of department of administration to establish supplemental food program. Chairman Lambert summarized the purpose of A.B. 487 and advised it would also be considered by the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means. ASSEMBLYMAN ERNAUT MOVED TO MOVE A.B. 487 OUT OF COMMITTEE WITHOUT RECOMMENDATION. ASSEMBLYMAN NEIGHBORS SECONDED THE MOTION. Mrs. Freeman commented she supported A.B. 487 and would prefer to see it sent to the Committee on Ways and Means with a recommendation of "do pass." Discussions were held between Chairman Lambert and Mrs. Freeman. Chairman Lambert called for a vote on the pending motion. THE MOTION CARRIED; ASSEMBLYMEN DE BRAGA, FREEMAN AND SEGERBLOM VOTED "NO." SENATE BILL NO. 232 - Authorizes certification of personnel of public libraries by state librarian. Discussions were held among committee members. Assemblyman Nolan advised he had received the fiscal note on S.B. 232 and the fiscal note indicated no additional funds were requested to carry out the provisions of S.B. No. 232. Ms. Tripple indicated she was convinced S.B. 232 was enabling legislation rather than legislation which created a mandate. ASSEMBLYMAN ERNAUT MOVED DO PASS S.B. 232. ASSEMBLYMAN SEGERBLOM SECONDED THE MOTION. Assemblyman Williams asked whether anyone could point out language in S.B. 232 which clearly said its provisions were permissive. Mr. Nolan responded S.B. 232 provided that the governing authority of a library had "...the ability to adopt the regulations." Chairman Lambert advised it was her understanding the provisions of S.B. 232 would not apply in either Clark County or Washoe County but would apply only in rural counties, where the library board and the board of county commissioners of a given county would determine whether or not the provisions of S.B. 232 were to be implemented. Chairman Lambert called for a vote on the pending motion. THE MOTION CARRIED. Chairman Lambert assigned S.B. 232 to Mrs. Segerblom for the purpose of making a floor statement. Mr. Neighbors updated the committee as to the status of Assembly Bill No. 433 and Assembly Bill No. 489. Assemblyman Ernaut provided an update of the status of Assembly Bill No. 12. B.D.R. 18-821 - Makes various changes concerning issuance and redemption of certain state obligations. ASSEMBLYMAN BACHE MOVED FOR COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION OF B.D.R. 18-821. ASSEMBLYMAN NEIGHBORS SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED. Chairman Lambert provided proposed amendments to Assembly Bill No. 536 (Exhibit E) and explained those proposed amendments. Mr. Nolan gave a subcommittee report on Assembly Bill No. 276. Discussions were held among committee members. SENATE BILL NO. 280 - Authorizes additional counties to establish medical scholarships for persons who agree to return to the county to practice medicine. Chairman Lambert reopened the hearing on S.B. 280. Ms. Sonia Martin, Nevada Pharmacists Association, testified. She said, if the committee determined the provisions of S.B. 280 should apply to nurses, pharmacists would like to be included also. Chairman Lambert closed the hearing on S.B. 280. There being no further business to come before the committee, Chairman Lambert adjourned the meeting at 9:07 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Sara Kaufman, Committee Secretary APPROVED BY: Assemblyman Douglas A. Bache, Chairman Assemblyman Joan A. Lambert, Chairman Assembly Committee on Government Affairs May 4, 1995 Page