MINUTES OF MEETING

      ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

 

      Sixty-seventh Session

      May 11, 1993

 

 

 

The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs was called to order by Chairman Val Z. Garner at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 11, 1993, in Room 330 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.  Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda.  Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.

 

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

      Mr. Val Z. Garner, Chairman

      Mr. Rick C. Bennett, Vice Chairman

      Mrs. Kathy M. Augustine

      Mr. Douglas A. Bache

      Mrs. Marcia de Braga

      Mrs. Vivian L. Freeman

      Mr. Lynn Hettrick

      Mrs. Erin Kenny

      Mrs. Joan A. Lambert

      Mr. James W. McGaughey

      Mr. Roy Neighbors

      Mrs. Gene W. Segerblom

      Mr. Wendell P. Williams

 

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

 

      Mr. Pete Ernaut - Excused.

 

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

 

      None

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

      Mrs. Dana Bennett, Senior Research Analyst

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

      Mr. George Pyne, Operations Officer, Public Employees Retirement System; Mr. Will Keating, Executive Officer, Public Employees Retirement System; Mr. Tom Ray, Deputy Attorney General.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 555 - Makes various changes relating to public employees' retirement system.

 

Mr. George Pyne, Operations Officer, Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), testified AB 555 was legislation introduced by PERS which changed seven basic portions of the Retirement Act.  Mr. Pyne reviewed the changes to the bill (Exhibit C).

 

Mr. Pyne's testimony was interrupted for questions from committee members at the end of page two of Exhibit C.

 

Mrs. Augustine asked if the member would be notified the money had been paid out and the divorce decree satisfied.  Mr. Pyne indicated that would be part of the process.

 

Mr. McGaughey referenced Mr. Pyne's opening remarks regarding the courts legislating divorce law on the pension plans, and asked if what was being asked by AB 555 was to codify the legislating being done in the court system.

 

Mr. Pyne replied what AB 555 would do was specify and reaffirm what already existed in the Retirement Act.

 

Mr. McGaughey asked if minor children would be designated as beneficiaries and would this legislation cut them out.  Mr. Pyne indicated survivor benefits for children was not the issue, if a member died prior to entering into retirement, there were certain survivor benefits paid to the surviving spouse and minor children, but this had to do with a condition where after a member was retired he could select one of several optional plans, one of which was taking a reduced benefit and after his death his beneficiary would continue to receive payment for his/her lifetime.  Mr. Pyne stated according to the plan, the benefits would then stop, but the court was trying to have the benefits continue on beyond the death of the beneficiary.

 

Further discussion ensued.

 

Mr. Pyne continued his testimony with page 3 of Exhibit C.

 

Mrs. Augustine voiced some concerns regarding out-of-state banks handling state monies rather than investing with in-state banks. Mr. Pyne and Mrs. Augustine discussed advantages and disadvantages of opening bids for out-of-state banks to handle the state monies.

 

Further discussion ensued.

 

There being no further testimony Chairman Garner requested a motion to do pass AB 555.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN BENNETT MOVED TO DO PASS AB 555.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN FREEMAN SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

Mr. Hettrick indicated he would like to see it made part of the bill to make it possible to have a 90-day notice of some kind so a person would be aware of benefits being paid to an alternate payee in advance.

 

Mr. Will Keating, Executive Officer, Public Employees Retirement System, stated he did not believe that was necessary and indicated Mr. Tom Ray could better answer the question.

 

Mr. Tom Ray, Deputy Attorney General, explained the background of the consent issue, stating the consent was not there to add additional protection or benefit to the employee, the employee had no choice but to consent as he had a court order directing him to do that, so if he did not consent, he would have to go back to court.  Mr. Ray said the purpose of the consent was for the benefit of the system as the system could not comply with court order because current law was not subject to court process, it could only be paid to the employee.

 

Further discussion ensued between committee members, Mr. Keating and Mr. Ray regarding the consent law.

 

Mrs. Augustine indicated she still had a concern with taking the state of Nevada custodial services away from Nevada banks and wondered if there should be something in the bill indicating preference be given to Nevada banks.

 

Chairman Garner indicated Mrs. Augustine could propose an amendment which would be voted on by the committee.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN AUGUSTINE MOVED TO AMEND THE MOTION TO INCLUDE AN AMENDMENT CHANGING SECTION 8, ITEM 6 TO GIVE PREFERENCE TO NEVADA BANKS.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN KENNY SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

After extensive discussion among committee members, mostly in opposition to the amendment, Mrs. Augustine stated there was a misconception of her proposal and withdrew her motion to amend. Mrs. Kenny withdrew her second.

 

 

      THE MOTION TO DO PASS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.  Assemblyman Ernaut was not present.

 

Chairman Garner closed the hearing on AB 555 and called a five-minute recess at 9:25 a.m.  The meeting was reconvened at 9:37 a.m.

 

Chairman Garner asked for committee introduction of the following bill draft request:

 

BILL DRAFT REQUEST 22-859 - Provides that statutes governing metropolitan police departments do not prohibit participating political subdivisions from establishing certain units of specialized law enforcement.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN BENNETT MOVED FOR COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION OF BDR 22-859.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN KENNY SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

      THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

Chairman Garner indicated a work session would be held to discuss bills previously heard in committee (Exhibit D).

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 251 - Changes certain procedures for making local improvements.

 

Chairman Garner indicated there would be no action on this bill as the amendments did not cover the concerned areas.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 14 - Makes various changes concerning purchasing by local governments.

 

Mr. McGaughey gave a brief review of AB 14 and indicated the details were still being worked out.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 31 - Revises requirements for filing documents with county recorder.

 

Chairman Garner noted there was a proposed amendment to AB 31 (Exhibit E) and asked for a motion to amend and do pass.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN AUGUSTINE MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 31.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN BENNETT SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

      THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

Chairman Garner requested Mrs. Augustine handle AB 31 on the floor.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 152 - Allows counties and cities to finance projects on behalf of corporations for public benefit and projects for affordable housing through issuance of certain revenue bonds.

 

Mr. Williams noted this bill had been introduced by Assemblyman Giunchigliani and he had proposed amendments which Mrs. Giunchigliani agreed with (Exhibit F).  He indicated AB 152 had also been concurrently referred to Taxation and it would go to Taxation before introduction on the floor.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAMS MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 152.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN de BRAGA SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

      THE MOTION CARRIED.  Assemblymen Lambert and McGaughey abstained from the vote.

 

Chairman Garner requested Mr. Williams handle the amendment for AB 152 before it was sent to Taxation.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 153 - Directs coordination of governmental collection of money and information from business.

 

Mrs. Segerblom indicated there were proposed amendments and additions to AB 153 (Exhibit G) and there had been further changes which had not yet been added to the amendments.  She reviewed the new changes to the amendment.

 

Mrs. Lambert stated a lot of work had been done on AB 153 but there had not been an opportunity to meet on a few technical points which needed to be addressed.

 

Chairman Garner said there would be no action taken on the bill until the concerns had been dealt with.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 172, AND 177 THROUGH 181 - Subdivision of land.

 

Mr. McGaughey remarked the subcommittee still needed to review the proposed amendments which he had just received the day before. 

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 314 - Makes various changes to application process for permit for appropriation of public waters and to fees assessed by state engineer.

 

Mr. Bennett indicated proposed amendments for AB 314 had been taken down to be drafted but had not been received back.  Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Lambert reviewed the proposed changes (Exhibit H).

 

Discussion among committee members ensued.

 

Chairman Garner indicated there would be no action taken until the amendments had been returned.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 352 - Authorizes unincorporated towns to impose impact fees.

 

Mr. McGaughey briefly reviewed AB 352 stating it had to do with Fernley water impact fees and indicated he had attended a meeting with the city attorney and representatives of the town board and the district trying to find a better way to solve the problem other than using impact fees.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 364 - 368 - Public records.

 

Mr. Bennett indicated several subcommittee meetings and a work session had been held which considered all five bills.  He stated there were several proposed amendments approved by the subcommittee being drafted and as soon as the amendments were received back he would give a full report to the committee.  Mr. Bennett noted there had been some amendments put forth which had not been accepted by the subcommittee and those would be presented with the report.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 378 - Imposes temporary moratorium on adoption of state regulations and creates advisory committee to study such regulations.

 

Chairman Garner stated he had not heard back from Mr. Humke and it seemed the only viable solution was to look at a study of the subject.  He indicated he would not be taking action on AB 378 unless Mr. Humke came forward with a proposal to move the bill.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 397 - Provides procedure to verify preference claimed by bidders on public contracts on account of taxes paid.

 

Mr. Hettrick stated he held a meeting with the north and south AGCs and it appeared to him those at the meeting did not think much of AB 397 and would like to see work done toward the other bill draft.  He indicated he had made a proposal on the bidding preference to try to incorporate some of the other bills which addressed the issue, and to allow the smaller contractors to become involved, "By going to a system that allowed for 80 percent of their taxes in those categories already listed be paid in the state of Nevada by certification of a CPA, and they are considering that now."

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 414 - Makes various changes relating to public works projects.

 

Chairman Garner indicated a proposed amendment was being drafted which he would bring to committee as soon as it was finished.  Chairman Garner briefly reviewed the bill.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 415 - Raises threshold for requiring advertisement of competitive bids for purchases by local government.

 

Dana Bennett gave a brief review of AB 415 and indicated an amendment had been proposed (Exhibit I) but there had been some concern expressed by committee in the last work session regarding linking to the CPI.

 

Discussion among committee members ensued.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 449 - 451 - State treasurer.

 

Mrs. Kenny indicated a subcommittee meeting was scheduled on these bills in the coming week.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 461 - Provides for protection of domestic wells from impairment.

 

Mrs. Lambert stated a subcommittee meeting had been held the previous day and a meeting would be held again the coming Friday.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 468 - Makes various changes relating to powers and composition of board of trustees of consolidated library district.

 

Mr. Williams handed out amendments to AB 468 (Exhibit J) and indicated the amendments were somewhat different than discussed in the hearing.  He stated the concern with Henderson and Boulder City and the other concerns brought out during the hearing had all been addressed.

 

As time was running short Chairman Garner asked committee members to review the amendments for discussion at a later date.

 

ASSEMBLY BILL 532 - Allows federal law enforcement agencies to obtain name and address of person in records of public utility.

 

Mr. McGaughey referenced a proposed amendment (Exhibit K), indicating it was agreeable with the utilities involved.

 

Chairman Garner stated AB 532 was a bill which some people viewed as a further intrusion, "I believe from testimony given that this was an oversight.  When the original bill allowed law enforcement to access records in cases of criminal investigations, that the federals should have been included and were not and this is a bill simply to include them in that bill.  I know you will get some response from people who are opposed to it."

 

Chairman Garner asked for a motion on AB 532.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN NEIGHBORS MOVED TO INDEFINITELY POSTPONE A.B. 532.

 

      ASSEMBLYMAN McGAUGHEY SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

Mr. Neighbors stated he thought the federals could get an order at any time if they wanted to and the bill was a superfluous issue.

 

Extensive discussion ensued.

 

      THE MOTION DID NOT CARRY.  Assemblymen Hettrick, Bennett, Augustine and Freeman voted no.  Assemblyman Lambert abstained.  Assemblyman Ernaut was absent.

 

ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 36 - Urges persons in charge of state buildings to display flag of National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia.

 

Mr. Hettrick indicated he had not met with Mr. Heller but would do so and get the proposed amendments to this bill.

 

SENATE BILL 49 - Revises procedure for payment of claim from state treasury made pursuant to legislative appropriation or authorization.

 

Chairman Garner said he and Mr. Neighbors had discussed SB 49 at length but had not been able to resolve the differences.

 

SENATE BILL 282 - Expands exemption from requirement that state public works board furnish engineering and architectural services for certain buildings.

 

Mr. McGaughey commented a meeting would be held that afternoon with Mr. Stevens from Public Works Board and others to discuss the situation as the State Parks wanted to be exempted from the Public Works Board review of its buildings.

 

There being no further business to come before committee, the meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m.

 

      RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

                             

      LINDA FEATHERINGILL

      Committee Secretary

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Assembly Committee on Government Affairs

May 11, 1993

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