MINUTES OF THE
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Sixty-seventh Session
June 14, 1993
The Assembly Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman Larry L. Spitler, at 2:05 p.m., on Monday, June 14, 1993, in Room 331 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. Larry L. Spitler, Chairman
Mr. Val Z. Garner, Vice Chairman
Mr. Bernie Anderson
Ms. Vonne Chowning
Mr. Tom Collins, Jr
Mr. William D. Gregory
Ms. Lynn Hettrick
Mr. James W. McGaughey
Mr. Louis A. Toomin
OTHERS PRESENT:
Ray Sparks, Chief of the Registration Division,
Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety
Ashley Hall, Nevada Auto Recyclers
Terry Page, Director of Regulatory Operations,
Nevada Public Service Commission
Daryl Capurro, Managing Director,
Nevada Motor Transport Association
Fred Harrell, Motorcycle Dealers' Association
Harvey Whittemore, Lionel, Sawyer and Collins
Rick Hackman, Manager, Consumer Division,
Public Service Commission
Larry Bell, Whittlesea Bell and Whittlesea Taxi
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Assemblyman Douglas Bache, Assembly District No. 11
Following roll call, Chairman Spitler opened the hearing. He indicated the sponsor intended to withdraw AB 130, but suggested the committee wait to see if anyone came forward to testify before the committee acted upon the bill.
ASSEMBLY BILL 647 - Restores certain provisions concerning liens on trailers.
Ray Sparks, Chief of the Registration Division, Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, explained AB 647 would correct a change made in the 1991 Session. At that time amendments were made by the Manufactured Housing Division to the provisions regarding liens against mobile and manufactured homes. As part of these amendments, the term "trailer" had been deleted from the lien statutes. He indicated the Department was unaware of those changes until an attorney pointed this out when the Department had tried to process a lien against a trailer.
Mr. Sparks said this had not been the intention of the Manufactured Housing Division; thus, the term "trailer" had been restored in the statutes where it had been deleted.
One area of concern, Mr. Sparks said, dealt with the provisions in AB 647 relating to travel trailers. The provisions in AB 647 would permit the lien against a vehicle for storage charges, for a mechanics lien for repairs, or for an abandoned vehicle. It would not address the situation in which a travel trailer was abandoned in an RV campground and the rent was not paid. Mr. Sparks, therefore, submitted Exhibit C, proposed amendments which would add the term "recreational vehicle" to the statute. This would allow a landlord to perfect a lien against a mobile or manufactured home for unpaid rent; and to adopt the amendments to address unpaid rent on a recreational vehicle.
Mr. McGaughey related a personal experience which indicated the problem with attaching a lien to abandoned recreational vehicles did appear to be unsolvable without statutory definition.
The representative of the Nevada Auto Recyclers, Ashley Hall, indicated full concurrence with AB 647, as well as the amendments proposed.
ASSEMBLYMAN GARNER MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS AB 647.
ASSEMBLYMAN McGAUGHEY SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
SENATE BILL 503 -Authorizes common carriers to transport various items for charitable organizations for free or at reduced rates.
Terry Page, Director of Regulatory Operations for the Nevada Public Service Commission, testified in support of SB 503. He indicated he had worked with the industry association, Food Bank of Nevada and the Board of Directors of the Food Bank to devise language which was workable and in the public interest.
Daryl Capurro, Managing Director of the Nevada Motor Transport Association, echoed Mr. Page's remarks, adding that they were presently unable to haul food at either below tariff rates or free of charge for needy people, because of statutory restrictions.
Ashley Hall, representing Catholic Community Services of Nevada, again came forward and indicated support for SB 503.
ASSEMBLYMAN HETTRICK MOVED TO DO PASS SB 503.
ASSEMBLYMAN CHOWNING SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
ASSEMBLY BILL 648 - Makes various changes to program for education of motorcycle riders.
The prime sponsor of the bill, Assemblyman Douglas Bache, Assembly District No. 11, explained AB 648 was mainly cleanup legislation dealing with a motorcycle safety program enacted in AB 490 during the last session. He drew attention to the language on page 1, lines 8-9. He explained some three-wheeled vehicle owners were being charged $6.00 for the program; however, their vehicle plates were not the same as a motorcycle plate, and the rider did not have to have a motorcycle endorsement on their license to drive them. Thus, there was a small group of people who were charged for a program they did not need access to. Mr. Bache continued with an explanation of the proposed cleanup language.
Mr. Toomin asked if there was a distinction made between a three-wheel motorcycle (a motorcycle with a sidecar) and a trimobile.
Fred Harrell, representing the Motorcycle Dealers' Association and the Nevada Association of Concerned Motorcyclists, explained for Mr. Toomin a motorcycle with a sidecar did not have a drive wheel. The rear wheels of trimobiles were drive wheels which were connected to a drive train. Thus, motorcycles with sidecars would still be included in the program.
In speaking about the program, Mr. Harrell referred to Exhibit D, a packet of material describing the program. He also mentioned he had a report which expressed concerns he and Senator Nevin had; however, Chairman Spitler asked Mr. Harrell to meet with him out of committee before the bill was again discussed before the committee.
Mr. Anderson asked if Mr. Harrell's report was necessary for committee understanding of AB 648. Mr. Harrell answered, "No." Mr. Anderson suggested if the committee was to hear testimony regarding the fiscal needs, it should make certain the appropriate agency was in attendance at the same time.
Referring to the bill, page 1, lines 8-9, Mr. Harrell indicated there currently were no facilities which allowed these vehicles to be a part of the program. The courses were designed for motorcycles and there was no criteria set up by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. However, he hastened to say, no one was excluded from the program.
Referring to language on page 2, lines 1-2, "members of the armed forces," Mr. Harrell said the military had a strong commitment to motorcycle safety and several instructors had come from Nellis Air Force Base and Fallon Air Force Base. Under current law, however, they were excluded from being instructors even though they had gone through the same, if not stricter, standards. He said they would like to be able to include non-resident military people as instructors.
Finally, referring to page 2, lines 11-12, Mr. Harrell said it was their desire to drop the three years to two years regarding the period of time demerits were reviewed. This would keep the standards of instructors high, however, the current standard eliminated individuals who might have two minor traffic infractions in a three-year period. Although they certainly wanted people with good driving records, they found the three- year period excluded many good instructors.
Chairman Spitler asked Mr. Harrell if he believed there should be an amendment in AB 648 based on a response to the report. Although he thought there were several things which could be done to strengthen the program, Mr. Harrell said he did not believe it should necessarily be done statutorily.
ASSEMBLYMAN GARNER MOVED TO DO PASS AB 648.
ASSEMBLYMAN COLLINS SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
ASSEMBLY BILL 726 - Requires certain motor carriers to designate person to train employees and to ensure compliance with federal laws relating to persons with disabilities.
Harvey Whittemore, partner with the law firm of Lionel, Sawyer and Collins, told the committee he was appearing on behalf Bill Lee, a handicapped pro bono client of his law firm. AB 726 attempted to provide a new definition of a person with a disability to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 contained in 42 U.S.C., Sec. 12101-12213. Mr. Whittemore believed this language was out of date, and AB 726 was an attempt to provide a new definition.
Subsections 2 and 3 of the bill were the substance of the act, Mr. Whittemore indicated. As such, he suggested an amendment on lines 14 and 15 which would change the training period from an annual basis to a per employee basis so that employees, when coming into the various motor carriers, would be provided the basic training needed to meet the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Mr. Anderson wondered if it was a good idea to drop the annual requirement. In response, Mr. Whittemore said what they were basically trying to do was codify an existing regulation and expand the current definition to make it consistent with federal law. Thus, he thought it was appropriate to take small steps in this regard and he did not think it was necessary to impose an annual requirement and perhaps jeopardize the whole bill.
The Chairman and Mr. Whittemore discussed other Public Service Commission training programs.
Rick Hackman, Manager of the Consumer Division of the Public Service Commission, told the committee the provisions of AB 726 had already been adopted through a "rule making" by the Commission. He went on to explain the arrangements and regulations the Commission had placed into effect in order to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Although Mr. Hackman believed the Commission had already accomplished the intent of AB 726, if the committee wanted to embody this in statute, they were not opposed to it.
Mr. Hackman did, however, disagree with remarks made by Mr. Whittemore regarding training. He said the Commission's rule did not designate a prescribed number of hours of training carriers had to provide for their employees; and to his knowledge, the act did not prescribe this either. They had no objection to the proposed amendments, however.
Chairman Spitler indicated although he had worked with Mr. Hackman in the area of telecommunications, he would be participating in AB 726 as the bill had nothing to do with telecommunications.
Daryl Capurro again came forward to say they concurred with the testimony given by the sponsor of the bill, including the proposed amendment to remove the annual requirement and reduce the eight hours to three hours. He agreed the regulations set forth in the American With Disabilities Act did not specify an amount of training time. It did, however, indicate the training had to provide proficiency but there was no specific requirement for refresher training. Mr. Capurro pointed out the training requirements were in the best interests of the industry, thus, there was no quarrel with the requirements for training.
Mr. Collins expressed some concern whether the training requirements would, indeed, be complied with. Mr. Capurro assured him the industry believed it was beneficial to provide more than adequate training for those with disabilities.
Larry Bell, representing Whittlesea Bell and the Whittlesea Taxi services in Reno and Las Vegas, indicated support of the bill. In response to Mr. Collins' concerns, Mr. Bell said as a service industry and service business they conducted sensitivity training with every employee on an individual basis. If ongoing training appeared to be necessary, he said they were willing and able to comply with that requirement, as well.
ASSEMBLYMAN CHOWNING MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS AB 726.
ASSEMBLYMAN ANDERSON SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
Mrs. Chowning was asked to handle the floor statement.
ASSEMBLY BILL 130 - Allows use of mobile units to inspect motor vehicles for compliance with standards for emissions.
Chairman Spitler noted this was the second time AB 130 had been scheduled and no one had attended to speak for the bill.
ASSEMBLYMAN TOOMIN MOVED TO INDEFINITELY POSTPONE AB 130.
ASSEMBLYMAN GARNER SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
ASSEMBLY BILL 645 - Makes various changes in regulation of dealers and other enterprises related to motor vehicles.
Chairman Spitler recalled AB 645 was an agency bill first heard on June 2, 1993. He continued with the progress of the bill.
Ray Sparks again came forward in response to Mr. Anderson's question regarding the three vehicle rule. Mr. Sparks said the problem the Department had experienced was not with individuals who might have sold three vehicles in a 12-month period. The problem was with people who were actually doing this as a business or a sideline. However, under the language in the bill, the scenario of a son who sold one vehicle early in the year, the family later selling a motor home and even later both the husband and wife purchasing a new car would probably trigger the requirement to be licensed. He was very doubtful this would occur. Mr. Sparks remarked if the committee was more comfortable with specifying four or five vehicles, the Department would not object. Three had been chosen as this was consistent with Department of Taxation rules.
Mr. Hettrick felt there was a similarity between AB 645 and SB 29. He asked if most people who were the targets of the bill were, indeed, selling more than three vehicles a year. Mr. Sparks answered most were selling more than six. Again, he said, the Department would not object to specifying four or five vehicles.
ASSEMBLYMAN COLLINS MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS AB 645.
ASSEMBLYMAN CHOWNING SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
SENATE BILL 95 - Authorizes certain persons to waive their exemptions from motor vehicle privilege tax and designate additional amount paid to be credited to fund for veterans' homes.
ASSEMBLYMAN GARNER MOVED TO DO PASS SB 95.
ASSEMBLYMAN TOOMIN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE PRESENT.
Mr. Garner announced the subcommittee working on SB 29 would meet on Wednesday, June 16th, immediately following the committee meeting.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Iris Bellinger
Committee Secretary
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Assembly Committee on Transportation
Date: June 14, 1993
Page: 1