THE THIRTY-SIXTH DAY
Carson City (Monday), March 10, 2003
Senate called to order at 11:18 a.m.
President Hunt presiding.
Roll called.
All present.
Prayer by the Chaplain, Pastor Patrick Propster.
Our gracious, heavenly Father,
We stand before You this day, and we shall have no other Gods
before us. We seek Your divine presence and wisdom and humbly request that You
govern the affairs of this Senate gathering.
We also desire that all that is decided here, today, will bring
honor and glory to You and stability and strength to the future of the great
State of Nevada.
We thank Thee as servants of You for Your people in Thy mighty
Name.
Amen.
Pledge of allegiance to the Flag.
Senator Raggio moved that further reading of the Journal be dispensed with, and the President and Secretary be authorized to make the necessary corrections and additions.
Motion carried.
REPORTS
OF COMMITTEES
Madam
President:
Your
Committee on Human Resources and Facilities, to which were referred Senate
Bills Nos. 36, 49, has had the same under consideration, and begs leave to
report the same back with the recommendation: Do pass.
Also,
your Committee on Human Resources and Facilities, to which were referred Senate
Concurrent Resolutions Nos. 3, 4, 5, has had the same under consideration, and
begs leave to report the same back with the recommendation: Be adopted.
Barbara Cegavske, Vice Chairman
WAIVERS AND EXEMPTIONS
Notice
of Exemption
March 10, 2003
The
Fiscal Analysis Division, pursuant to Joint Standing Rule No. 14.6, has
determined the exemption of: Senate Bills Nos. 3, 33, 34, 41, 49, 58, 62, 64,
66, 100, 102, 117, 119, 126, 127, 132, 137, 138, 184, 189, 200, 215, 216, 238.
|
Gary Ghiggeri |
|
Fiscal Analysis Division |
INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING AND REFERENCE
By Senators Townsend and O'Connell:
Senate Bill No. 250—AN ACT relating to regulated businesses and professions; revising the provisions governing the filing and approval of rates of certain insurers; authorizing certain insurers in a competitive market to change rates under certain circumstances without prior review by the Commissioner of Insurance; requiring the Commissioner to review and approve certain rates before the rates become effective; providing for the issuance by the Commissioner of orders to discontinue a rate; requiring insurers to describe in certain policies of malpractice insurance the formula or method used to determine the premiums for tail coverage; requiring insurers under certain circumstances to provide for a reduction in the premiums for certain policies of malpractice insurance; authorizing certain providers of health care to recover benefit penalties from insurers that unreasonably reject certain settlement offers in malpractice actions; requiring the district courts and the Court Administrator to compile and report certain information concerning attorney’s fees and sanctions; revising the authority of the courts to award attorney’s fees; making various changes regarding procedure and the statute of limitations in malpractice actions; authorizing certain monetary sanctions in malpractice actions; making various changes regarding the licensure of certain physicians; clarifying the jurisdiction of certain regulatory boards; imposing reporting requirements on certain physicians; requiring certain regulatory boards to impose disciplinary action against certain physicians; requiring certain physicians to undergo tests for competency in certain circumstances; establishing an advisory panel to study certain issues relating to malpractice insurance; requiring the Commissioner of Insurance to hold public hearings on certain issues relating to malpractice insurance; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Townsend moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Labor.
Motion carried.
By Senator Titus:
Senate Bill No. 251—AN ACT relating to confidentiality; prohibiting a court from knowingly entering an order or judgment that has the purpose or effect of concealing a public hazard or information concerning a public hazard; providing that any portion of an agreement or a contract that has the purpose or effect of concealing a public hazard or information concerning a public hazard is void; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Titus moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Motion carried.
By the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities:
Senate Bill No. 252—AN ACT relating to charter schools; requiring a charter school to pay for an additional administration of achievement and proficiency examinations under certain circumstances; prescribing the circumstances under which a charter school shall be deemed a charter school that is dedicated to providing educational programs and opportunities for pupils who are at risk; providing for sponsorship of charter schools by the State Board of Education; revising the provisions governing the revocation of the written charter of a charter school; authorizing the governing body of a charter school to request an administrative hearing concerning the pending revocation of its written charter; revising the provisions governing apportionments from the State Distributive School Account to charter schools sponsored by the State Board of Education; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Motion carried.
By Senator Cegavske and Assemblywoman Giunchigliani:
Senate Bill No. 253—AN ACT relating to education; removing the requirement that the days on which a pupil is absent from school because of physical or mental illness must be credited towards the attendance required for promotion to the next higher grade; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Cegavske moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities.
Motion carried.
By Senators Cegavske, O'Connell, Washington, Hardy, Amodei, McGinness, Nolan, Tiffany; Assemblymen Knecht, Gustavson, Beers, Christensen, Geddes, Gibbons, Goicoechea, Hardy, Hettrick, Mabey, Marvel and Sherer:
Senate Bill No. 254—AN ACT relating to education; authorizing the parents and guardians of certain pupils to choose which public schools the pupils will attend; requiring the board of trustees of each school district to submit to the Legislature and the Legislative Committee on Education a report concerning restrictions on class size and the expansion of enrollment of pupils in certain schools; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Cegavske moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities.
Motion carried.
By Senators Townsend, Care, O'Connell, Cegavske, Coffin, Hardy, Mathews, McGinness, Nolan, Raggio, Rawson, Schneider, Shaffer, Tiffany, Washington and Wiener:
Senate Bill No. 255—AN ACT relating to telecommunications; prohibiting a person from using a device for automatic dialing and announcing to disseminate a prerecorded message unless the person called consents; requiring the establishment and operation of a do-call registry composed of the telephone numbers of subscribers of noncommercial telephone service who wish to receive telemarketing calls; prohibiting a telemarketer under certain circumstances from making an unsolicited telemarketing call to a telephone number unless that number is included in the current do-call registry; requiring a provider of telephone service or local telephone directories to publicize the do-call registry; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Townsend moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Labor.
Motion carried.
By Senators Cegavske, Amodei, O'Connell, Care, Nolan, Coffin, Hardy, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, Raggio, Rawson, Schneider, Shaffer, Tiffany, Titus, Townsend, Washington, Wiener; Assemblymen Hettrick, Gibbons, Williams, Knecht, Brown, Andonov, Angle, Beers, Christensen, Claborn, Collins, Giunchigliani, Griffin, Mabey, Manendo, Marvel, Mortenson, Sherer and Weber:
Senate Bill No. 256—AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; making various changes concerning the issuance of drivers’ licenses to persons who are 16 or 17 years of age; revising certain restrictions relating to the transportation of passengers who are under 18 years of age; providing that the parent or legal guardian of a person who commits certain violations with respect to the operation of a motor vehicle is liable to pay the fine or penalties imposed for such a violation and may be required to perform community service if unable to pay the fine or penalties; revising provisions relating to automobile driver education in public schools; providing penalties; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Cegavske moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Transportation.
Motion carried.
SECOND READING AND AMENDMENT
Senate Bill No. 22.
Bill read second time and ordered to third reading.
Senator Townsend moved that Senate Bill No. 22 be re-referred to the Committee on Finance.
Remarks by Senator Townsend.
Motion carried.
GENERAL FILE AND THIRD READING
Senate Bill No. 18.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 18:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Senate Bill No. 18 having received a constitutional majority, Madam President declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.
Senate Bill No. 72.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 72:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Senate Bill No. 72 having received a constitutional majority, Madam President declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.
Senate Bill No. 113.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Neal and O'Connell.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 113:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Senate Bill No. 113 having received a constitutional majority, Madam President declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.
Senate Bill No. 140.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Neal and Townsend.
Senator Neal requested that the following remarks be entered in the Journal.
Senator Townsend:
Thank you, Madam President. The bill before us was
requested by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, which was created in Washoe
County to purchase the water assets of Sierra Pacific Power Company. As a
result, when they went to the bond market as an entity with no history, they
had to pay a substantially higher premium on the bonds. This allows them to
join with the State for the state bond bank in order to receive a lower rate.
If Washoe County were to have a county bond bank, they could also participate
and, thereby, lower the borrowing rate.
Senator Neal:
Thank you, Madam President. I just want to make it
clear that I heard Senator Townsend state that the Truckee Meadow Water
District purchased the water assets from Sierra Pacific Power Company?
Senator Townsend:
Thank you, Madam President. Yes.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 140:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Senate Bill No. 140 having received a constitutional majority, Madam President declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.
Senate Bill No. 174.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Neal and O'Connell.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 174:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Senate Bill No. 174 having received a constitutional majority, Madam resident declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.
MESSAGES FROM THE ASSEMBLY
Assembly
Chamber, Carson
City, March 10, 2003
To the
Honorable the Senate:
I
have the honor to inform your honorable body that the Assembly on this day
passed Assembly Bill No. 263.
INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING AND REFERENCE
Assembly Bill No. 263.
Senator Raggio moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Motion carried.
Senator Raggio moved that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.
Motion carried.
Senate in recess at 11:42 a.m.
SENATE IN SESSION
At 11:52 a.m.
President Hunt presiding.
Quorum present.
REPORTS
OF COMMITTEES
Madam President:
Your
Committee on Finance, to which was referred Assembly Bill No. 263, has had the
same under consideration, and begs leave to report the same back with the
recommendation: Do pass.
William J. Raggio, Chairman
MOTIONS, RESOLUTIONS AND NOTICES
Senator Raggio moved that all rules be suspended, reading so far had considered second reading, rules further suspended, Assembly Bill No. 263 declared an emergency measure under the Constitution and placed on third reading and final passage.
Remarks by Senator Raggio.
Senator Raggio requested that his remarks be entered in the Journal.
Assembly Bill No. 263 relates to the Public Employees’ Benefits Program
and has been requested that this House treat this bill as an emergency measure.
Page 2 of the bill changes the date in NRS 287.043, subsection 2(d), from
a 60-day notice to a 30-day notice for any proposed change in premiums or
coverage. Apparently, there are no objections by state employees to the bill.
The state employees understand the benefit of the bill because it gives earlier
notice in the event of any changes. There are a number of bills pending in the
Legislature with concerns, expressed to you, about the dramatic increase in
premiums. Unless the days for notice is changed to 30 days, there would not be
the opportunity to take advantage of the changes being considered.
Motion carried unanimously.
GENERAL FILE AND THIRD READING
Assembly Bill No. 263.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Amodei and Coffin.
Senator Amodei requested that the following remarks be entered in the Journal.
Senator Amodei:
Thank you, Madam President. I appreciate the
Majority Leader’s explanation on the bill and hope that we will be in a
position to make some positive changes at this time.
I
will note this bill presents us with a double-edged sword which means that if
the board elects to further reduce or affect benefits in a negative manner, we
are cutting in half the length of time people in the plan have to react to any
action. Hopefully, we will be able to make certain that does not happen this
session, and we will keep it moving in the right direction instead of in the
direction it has historically moved during the last few years.
Senator Coffin:
Thank you, Madam President. I would like to provide
an answer for Senator Amodei and a reassurance on the subject. In fact, some
members of our insured group will elect to actually reduce their benefits,
intentionally, so that they may reduce their premium. This happens on a
case-by-case basis. The options being created by the Public Benefits Board will
allow them to do that.
Roll call on Assembly Bill No. 263:
Yeas—21.
Nays—None.
Assembly Bill No. 263 having received a constitutional majority, Madam President declared it passed.
Senator Raggio moved that all rules be suspended and that Assembly Bill No. 263 be immediately transmitted to the Assembly.
Motion carried unanimously.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Signing
of Bills and Resolutions
There being no objections, the President and Secretary signed Senate Bill No. 32; Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 14; Assembly Bill No. 26; Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 6.
remarks from the floor
Senator Titus requested that her remarks be entered in the Journal.
Today is Grassroots Lobby Day. Beginning in 1991, the Nevada Women’s
Lobby has coordinated this visit to the Legislature, and we are pleased to have
with us, today and tomorrow, 150 representatives from more than 25
organizations, including: American Association of Retired People; Nevada,
American Association of University Women, Clark County Legal Services and
Washoe Legal Services, Committee to Aid Abused Women, Common Cause, Equal
Rights Nevada, Girl Scouts of the Frontier, League of Women Voters of Nevada,
Nevada Association of Social Workers, Nevada Chapter; Nevada Empowered Women’s
Project, Nevada Federation of Business and Professional Women, Nevada Network
Against Domestic Violence, Nevada Nurses Association, Organization of Women Law
Students, Boyd School of Law; Planned Parenthood, Progressive Leadership
Alliance of Nevada, Soroptimist International and Undergraduate Student Social
Work Association.
GUESTS EXTENDED PRIVILEGE OF SENATE FLOOR
On request of Senator Nolan, the privilege of the floor of the Senate Chamber for this day was extended to Geoffrey Crump.
Senator Raggio moved that the Senate adjourn until Tuesday, March 11, 2003, at 11 a.m.
Motion carried.
Senate adjourned at 12 m.
Approved: Lorraine T. Hunt
President
of the Senate
Attest: Claire J. Clift
Secretary of the Senate