MINUTES OF THE
SENATE Committee on Transportation
Seventy-second Session
March 27, 2003
The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman Raymond C. Shaffer, at 2:12 p.m., on Thursday, March 27, 2003, in Room 2149 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. The meeting was videoconferenced to the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Room 4406, 555 East Washington Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster. All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator Raymond C. Shaffer, Chairman
Senator Dennis Nolan, Vice Chairman
Senator Mark Amodei
Senator Warren B. Hardy II
Senator Michael Schneider
Senator Terry Care
Senator Maggie Carlton
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Marsheilah Lyons, Committee Policy Analyst
Lee-Ann Keever, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Dan Musgrove, Lobbyist, Clark County
Kami Dempsey, Lobbyist, City of Las Vegas
Richard Wilkie, Lobbyist, City of Henderson
Chairman Shaffer opened the work session on Senate Bill (S.B.) 149 and asked Marsheilah Lyons, Committee Policy Analyst, to read the proposed amendment to S.B. 149 (Exhibit C).
SENATE BILL 149: Authorizes advertising in buildings in which Department of Motor Vehicles offers services to public. (BDR 43-765)
SENATOR NOLAN MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS AS AMENDED S.B. 149.
SENATOR AMODEI SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATOR CARE, SENATOR CARLTON, AND SENATOR SCHNEIDER WERE ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
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Chairman Shaffer opened the work session on S.B. 157 and asked Ms. Lyons to read the proposed amendment to S.B. 157 (Exhibit D). Chairman Shaffer said he wanted to delay voting on the bill until the committee members discussed the proposed amendment with Senator Rawson.
SENATE BILL 157: Requires certain trucks and combinations of vehicles to be driven in extreme right lanes of certain highways. (BDR 43-595)
Senator Nolan said he had some concerns about the bill which he discussed with Senator Rawson and requested the committee members take no action on the bill until his discussions with Senator Rawson were finished. Chairman Shaffer said no action would be taken on the bill until Senator Rawson provided additional information to the committee members.
Chairman Shaffer opened the work session on S.B. 187 and asked Ms. Lyons to read the proposed amendment to S.B. 187 (Exhibit E). Senator Nolan said he had discussed S.B. 187 with representatives from Clark County and the City of Las Vegas. Senator Nolan reiterated testimony the committee members previously received regarding the bill. The testimony indicated handicapped people were often not able to find handicapped parking spaces because unqualified drivers illegally used the parking spaces designated for the handicapped drivers.
SENATE BILL 187: Revises provisions governing erection and maintenance of signs to designate parking spaces for use by handicapped persons. (BDR 20-761)
Senator Nolan stated he disagreed with attempts to put the bill into statute. The bill created an unfunded mandate for the local governments. Senator Nolan said he had spoken with some of the local government officials about voluntary participation in a program utilizing code enforcement officers. Under the program, property and business owners would be informed of their responsibility to provide clearly marked handicapped parking spaces for their patrons. To ensure compliance, a notice would be sent to property and business owners reminding them they could be fined for failing to provide handicapped parking spaces for their patrons. Also, the notices would contain telephone numbers for the business or property owner to call to receive additional information relating to their responsibilities in providing handicapped parking to their patrons.
Senator Nolan said he thought using the code enforcement officers would solve the problem about the inappropriate use of handicapped parking spaces by unqualified drivers without the Legislature enacting a statute.
Senator Hardy asked if building codes required store or property owners to provide an adequate number of properly marked handicapped parking spaces.
Dan Musgrove, Lobbyist, Clark County, said building codes contained provisions for enforcing handicapped parking violations.
Senator Hardy said he thought the local government entities could enforce handicapped parking provisions during code inspections. Senator Hardy said he agreed with Senator Nolan’s suggestion to use code enforcement officers to inform the property and business owners of their responsibility under the law. Senator Hardy stated he defended the rights of the local governments to handle certain issues at a local level. He suggested local governments instruct their code enforcement officials to inspect businesses for properly marked handicapped parking spaces during routine inspections.
Kami Dempsey, Lobbyist, City of Las Vegas, said the City of Las Vegas would be happy to work with its code enforcement officers and businesses to implement Senator Nolan’s suggestion. She thought working with code enforcement officers and businesses would give all parties more flexibility and freedom in an expedited manner. Ms. Dempsey stated the City of Las Vegas supported Senator Nolan’s suggestion.
Mr. Musgrove said he had talked with Clark County Development Services, as that department was responsible for code enforcement in Clark County. He said there were two sides to code enforcement: 1) plan checking, and 2) on-site inspections. Mr. Musgrove said Senator Hardy was correct in asking code enforcement officers to refocus their job duties to include inspecting for handicapped parking violations.
Richard Wilkie, Lobbyist, City of Henderson, agreed to work with the city of Henderson’s code enforcement officers to resolve the issue of unqualified people improperly parking in handicapped parking spaces.
Senator Nolan wanted the local governments to provide the committee members with a report on their progress towards implementing a program where code enforcement officers would inspect for handicapped parking violations The report would be due in 3 weeks, including examples of the flyers or notices developed by each local government. Mr. Musgrove, Ms. Dempsey, and Mr. Wilkie agreed to provide the report requested by Senator Nolan in 3 weeks.
Senator Nolan said Ed Gobel provided photographic evidence illustrating that the improper use of handicapped parking spaces was a problem in Clark County.
Chairman Shaffer said the Senate Committee on Transportation would recess before hearing S.B. 220. He said Senator Care had recommendations on the bill, but had been detained at a previous engagement. The meeting would reconvene when Senator Care was able to participate and present the recommendations.
SENATE BILL 220: Repeals prohibition against certain use by governmental entity of photographic, video or digital equipment for gathering evidence for issuance of traffic citation. (BDR 43-37)
The Senate Committee on Transportation recessed at 2:26 p.m., and reconvened at 2:36 p.m.
Senator Care said the subcommittee on S.B. 220 met on March 25, 2003. At the meeting, testimony had been received from members of the public, law enforcement officers, and public prosecutors. Based on testimony presented, the subcommittee had three recommendations for the full committee.
The first recommendation was for the prohibition to remain in the current law. Statutory language would be written clearly indicating videotape or photographs could be used for purposes other than issuing a traffic citation. Senator Care said if a traffic accident or crime was captured on film, the photographs or videotape could be used at the courts’ discretion.
The second recommendation provided for the use of cameras for the purpose of
imposing a civil or administrative assessment similar to a parking ticket. The
cameras could not be used to issue a traffic ticket. The third recommendation
provided civil or administrative assessments could be contested in the same
fashion as traffic tickets.
SENATOR CARE MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS AS AMENDED S.B. 220.
SENATOR NOLAN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATORS CARLTON AND HARDY VOTED NO. SENATOR SCHNEIDER WAS ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
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There being no further business, Chairman Shaffer adjourned the Senate Committee on Transportation at 2:40 p.m.
Lee-Ann Keever,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator Raymond C. Shaffer, Chairman
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