MINUTES OF THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
Sixty-seventh Session
June 30, 1993
The Senate Committee on Finance was called to order by Chairman William J. Raggio, at 9:30 a.m., on Wednesday, June 30, 1993, in Room 223 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. There was no Meeting Agenda. Exhibit A is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator William J. Raggio, Chairman
Senator Raymond D. Rawson, Vice Chairman
Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen
Senator Bob Coffin
Senator Diana M. Glomb
Senator William R. O'Donnell
Senator Matthew Q. Callister
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Jan Evans, Washoe County Assembly District No. 30
Ernest E. Adler, Capital Senatorial District
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Daniel G. Miles, Fiscal Analyst
Robert Guernsey, Principal Deputy Fiscal Analyst
Judy Jacobs, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Eugene T. Paslov, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Department of Education
Debbie Cahill, Nevada State Education Association
Madelyn Shipman, City of Reno
Senator Raggio told the committee action should be taken on Assembly Bill (A.B.) 787 and on A.B. 788 immediately. He explained A.B. 787 is the appropriation bill discussed earlier, and staff had indicated there were no changes from the draft that had been reviewed.
ASSEMBLY BILL 787: Makes appropriations for support of civil government of state.
SENATOR RAWSON MOVED TO DO PASS A.B. 787.
SENATOR O'DONNELL SECONDED THE MOTION.
Senator Coffin expressed his concerns regarding the limitations on the powers over the legislature that would result from giving "excessive power" to the executive branch to cut budgets contained in section 51. He proposed an amendment.
SENATOR COFFIN MOVED TO AMEND A.B. 787 BY DELETING SECTION 51 AND RENUMBERING SECTIONS 52 AND 53 AS SECTIONS 51 AND 52.
The motion died for lack of a second.
Senator Raggio pointed out A.B. 409 would tie in with A.B. 787. He asked Daniel G. Miles, Fiscal Analyst, to explain A.B. 409.
ASSEMBLY BILL 409: Makes various changes relating to state financial administration.
Mr. Miles stated the measure would amend Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 353.225 to allow the Governor to act to reduce the budget only in accordance with guidelines provided by the legislature within the general appropriations act.
THE MOTION TO DO PASS A.B. 787 CARRIED. (SENATORS COFFIN AND GLOMB VOTED NO. SENATOR CALLISTER WAS ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
ASSEMBLY BILL 788: Authorizes and provides funding for certain projects of capital improvement.
Senator Rawson inquired if the measure included the university system. Senator Raggio replied in the affirmative. Senator Rawson declared he would abstain.
SENATOR JACOBSEN MOVED TO DO PASS ASSEMBLY BILL 788.
SENATOR O'DONNELL SECONDED THE MOTION.
Senator Raggio said, "I would offer an unpaid opinion that I think on capital improvement projects for the university that isn't a situation where it would affect any compensation received by salaried employees."
Senator Jacobsen suggested a letter of intent might be included in relationship to the metal storage building described on page 2 for the restored locomotive in Virginia City. He remarked it had been the subject of much controversy. Senator Raggio recalled it had already been done. Mr. Miles called attention to section 2 at the bottom of page 2 which requires that the money could not be committed unless the building was constructed on land owned by the state and ownership of the locomotive was vested in the state.
Senator Jacobsen expressed concern the locomotive would not be cared for properly and could be vandalized if it was housed in the area being considered. Senator Raggio agreed the matter should be set out in a letter of intent.
Senator Coffin inquired if A.B. 788 contained funds for rehabilitating the honor camps, in particular the Pioche Conservation Camp. Senator Raggio replied that it did. Mr. Miles indicated the bill contained $4 million for the Stewart Conservation Camp and funds for other camps but the funding for Pioche had been approved during the last session. Senator Raggio said the funds for the Pioche Conservation Camp were allocated out of previous bond proceeds.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATOR CALLISTER WAS ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
Senator Raggio opened the hearing on Assembly Bill 290.
ASSEMBLY BILL 290: Requires state board of education to establish pilot program for increased management of public schools by educational personnel.
Jan Evans, Washoe County Assembly District No. 30, urged support of A.B. 290. She stated the bill supported the concept of site-based decision making for public schools. She asserted the concept is being practiced in schools across the country and to some degree within Nevada at all educational levels. She explained the pilot programs addressed by the bill would be under the direction of local school boards with the added guidance and oversight of the State Board of Education.
Mrs. Evans reported at the conclusion of the pilot programs an evaluation would be made and submitted to the Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB). She declared the reason for site-based management is to give added flexibility on decisions to local neighborhood schools. She alleged schools are often treated as though they are all the same, yet different schools in different parts of the community have different needs. She felt the proposal would give local residents an opportunity for more input into the decisions regarding administration, teachers, staff and parent participation in the local school. She acknowledged the schools would not be allowed to go outside of state guidelines nor could they exceed the rules or guidelines set down by local school boards.
Mrs. Evans pointed out a modest appropriation of $10,000 was attached to the measure.
Eugene T. Paslov, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Department of Education, came forward to outline the provisions of A.B. 290.
On behalf of the legislature, Senator Raggio thanked Dr. Paslov for "rising to the occasion to accommodate the passage of the accountability program." He indicated the measure had been endorsed in both houses, by both parties and by state teacher associations. He attributed the success to Dr. Paslov.
Dr. Paslov offered support for A.B. 290. He explained the bill grew out of school improvement projects that had been funded nearly 6 years ago. He stated there are excellent opportunities currently in place for site-based decision-making operations. He declared the intention had been to keep the process very simple in order to allow local boards of trustees to design or encourage designs already in place for local participation.
Ernest E. Adler, Capital Senatorial District, added his support for A.B. 290, calling it an excellent bill. He related it was very complimentary to a measure he had introduced regarding waivers on school rules. He indicated his bill had only allowed districts to seek waivers for certain rules. He felt some good models may be the result of A.B. 290.
Debbie Cahill, Nevada State Education Association (NSEA), voiced support for A.B. 290. She offered the belief it would provide an important level of scrutiny for a project that is already ongoing in the state and may go on into the future.
Senator Rawson wondered if A.B. 290 had more administrative control than Senator Adler's bill which he thought had more parental control. He asked if he had misinterpreted the bills.
Dr. Paslov responded Senator Rawson's observation was basically correct. He explained he did not see that as being mutually exclusive. Senator Rawson agreed it was good to have both bills for discussion.
Senator Rawson said, "We have a trailer issue that we need to run through because of a bill that had some drafting errors in it and is in the Governor's office now. " He suggested A.B. 290 might be a good vehicle to use to clarify the errors. He explained:
We sent a bill over that allows the school districts to avoid going through the fire marshal, and in the process of that it took out all zoning requirements and probably opened things up too much.
Senator Raggio asked if the sponsors of A.B. 290 would have a problem with that being added. Mrs. Evans indicated she would not object. After a brief conference Senator Rawson announced it might not be necessary.
Madelyn Shipman, City of Reno, said it had been suggested the problem referenced by Senator Rawson should be run through the Senate Committee on Government Affairs because it falls under chapter 278 of the Nevada Revised Statutes.
In the absence of further commentary, Senator Raggio closed the hearing on A.B. 290. He asked the committee to take action on A.B. 170 in case it needs amending.
ASSEMBLY BILL 170: Requires issuance of bonds to provide revenue for grants for preservation and protection of certain historical buildings.
Senator Raggio acknowledged the joint Capital Improvement Project (CIP) subcommittees had determined that the entire amount of $20 million could not be authorized even if it were not issued all at one time because that would put the state above the target limit on bonding. He said the CIP subcommittees had proposed that the issuance of bonds be limited to $2.5 million for the coming biennium. He noted they had added that in future legislative sessions there was a desire to keep the program going forward after legislative review.
Referring to page 2, lines 15 through 18 of the first reprint of A.B. 170, Senator Rawson read, "The legislature hereby declares that the issuance of bonds pursuant to this section is a priority of the State of Nevada."
Senator Raggio reported the subcommittees had agreed that language should be deleted.
SENATOR RAWSON MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 170 TO AUTHORIZE $2.5 MILLION OVER THE BIENNIUM AND TO DELETE ANY PRIORITY LANGUAGE.
SENATOR O'DONNELL SECONDED THE MOTION.
Senator Callister stated there had been two other measures to rectify technical problems when it was determined that the bonds could not be issued outside of the bond debt limit. He said, "The purpose of the Commission [for Cultural Affairs] was to operate under the notion that there would be continuing appropriations, actually that there would a $20 million appropriation in $2 million increments unless otherwise addressed...."
Senator Callister expressed concern that the voters of Clark County, which he asserted would generate 75 percent of the property tax to service the bonded indebtedness, had denied property tax increases for police protection, local parks or schools. Even though he admitted he is a proponent of increased property taxes to provide funds, he declared he could not go against the wishes of his Clark County constituents, especially if very little of the funds generated would return to Clark County. He averred the bill provides no guarantees as to how much might be used in Clark County for which he indicated it could provide as little as 5 percent.
Without the provision for some minimum returns to each area of the state, Senator Callister declared he could not compel his constituents to spend the money to be allocated from A.B. 170.
Senator Raggio stated for the record that the assessment figure for Clark County is 59 percent.
Senator Jacobsen voiced concern as to how priorities would be established if that portion of the bill is removed. Senator Raggio responded that was the purpose of the Commission for Cultural Affairs. He pointed out the commission would be given authority for less than $2 million.
Senator Jacobsen noted there was still $20,000 due to the honor camps for work they have already performed. He pointed out to Senator Callister that he had estimated there are approximately 50 projects being carried out by the honor camps in Clark County at the present time at no cost to the county.
Senator Raggio called for a vote on the motion to amend and do pass A.B. 170.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATOR CALLISTER VOTED NO.)
* * * * *
At 10:15 a.m. Senator Raggio announced that the meeting would be recessed subject to the call of the chair.
Senator Raggio reconvened the meeting at 3:55 p.m. He asked the committee to review A.B. 536.
ASSEMBLY BILL 536: Makes appropriation to legislative counsel bureau for reproduction of certain publications.
Senator Raggio explained the measure would appropriate $75,414 to the LCB to cover the costs to reproduce volumes of the Nevada reports that are out of print.
SENATOR RAWSON MOVED TO DO PASS A.B. 536.
SENATOR COFFIN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATORS O'DONNELL, GLOMB AND CALLISTER WERE ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
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Senator Rawson proposed introduction of a bill draft request (BDR). He explained John Swenseid, representing Washoe County, had proposed a revenue bond for the university and community college system to be repaid from student fees to provide for a welding center. He reported Mr. Swenseid stated there was an existing foundation that would pay $700,000 of the $2.2 million due with the remainder from student fees.
Senator Raggio asked what the total amount of the bond would be. Senator Rawson replied it would be $1.5 million. Senator Raggio asked if that would count against the debt. Mr. Miles responded he had not found any similar bonds listed by the consultant in the debt-affordability study.
Senator Raggio indicated he was not sure a BDR could be processed. He said he would accept a motion subject to the bill draft office being able to process it.
SENATOR RAWSON MOVED FOR INTRODUCTION OF A BILL DRAFT REQUEST TO APPROVE A REVENUE BOND TO BUILD A WELDING FACILITY AT TRUCKEE MEADOWS COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND TO DO PASS THE BILL SUBJECT TO ITS INTRODUCTION.
SENATOR JACOBSEN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATORS O'DONNELL AND GLOMB WERE ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
ASSEMBLY BILL 748: Makes appropriation to Nevada highway patrol of department of motor vehicles and public safety for pilot program for Alliance for Uniform HAZMAT Transportation Procedures.
Senator Raggio recalled the bill had been supported by the Nevada Motor Transport Association and by Captain William Goddard of the Nevada Highway Patrol. The measure would be funded out of highway funds and not by General Funds.
SENATOR RAWSON MOVED TO DO PASS A.B. 748.
SENATOR CALLISTER SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATORS O'DONNELL AND GLOMB WERE ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
A discussion ensued over A.B. 290. Senator Rawson told the committee Mrs. Evans would accept removal of the appropriation rather than allow the bill to die. The appropriations would provide $10,000 per year.
Senator Raggio remarked he would not be concerned over a total appropriation of $20,000 for the biennium but he would defer to the committee. Senator Rawson opined the bill was worthwhile.
Senator Callister asked if an estimate had been made of the amount of funds remaining after each appropriation was approved. There was no updated information available. The committee decided to hold the bill for the time being.
Senator Raggio announced the meeting would recess subject to the call of the chair.
There being no further business before the committee, Senator Raggio adjourned the meeting at 4:20 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Judy Jacobs,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator William J. Raggio, Chairman
DATE:
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Senate Committee on Finance
June 30, 1993
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