MINUTES OF THE
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Sixty-seventh Session
May 25, 1993
The Senate Committee on Transportation was called to order by Chairman William R. O'Donnell, at 1:40 p.m., on Tuesday, May 25, 1993, in Room 226 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
Senator Lawrence E. Jacobsen, Vice Chairman
Senator Mark A. James
Senator Leonard V. Nevin
Senator Joseph M. Neal, Jr.
Senator Thomas J. Hickey
Senator Lori L. Brown
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Lieutenant Governor Sue Wagner
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Paul Mouritsen, Senior Research Analyst
Terri Jo Wittenberg, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV)
Chris Ault, Athletic Director, University of Nevada, Reno
Fred C. Albrecht, Executive Director, Alumni Relations, University of Nevada, Reno
James T. Richardson, Nevada Faculty Alliance, Department of Sociology
Sheila Strike, Athletic Department, University of Nevada, Reno
Colonel William J. Yukish, Chief, Highway Patrol Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety
Chairman O'Donnell opened the hearing on Senate Bill (S.B.) 452.
Senate Bill 452: Authorizes department of motor vehicles and public safety to issue collegiate license plates.
Senate Committee on Transportation
May 25, 1993
Page 2
Lieutenant Governor Sue Wagner, spoke from prepared testimony (Exhibit C) in support of S.B. 452.
Raymond L. Sparks, Chief, Registration Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety (DMV), explained the proposed amendments to the bill (Exhibit D). Mr. Sparks said the amendment would increase the renewal fees from $10 to $20 and clearly specify the renewal fee would be deposited into the special account that was created for scholarships.
Chairman O'Donnell asked what the license plates would look like.
Lt. Governor Wagner said representatives from both universities had brought sample license plates with them.
Mr. Sparks said the bill would give his department the latitude to work with the universities to come up with an acceptable design for each university.
Senator Nevin asked if the license plate would have any colors on it other than the colors currently being used.
Mr. Sparks said the university colors would be incorporated into the license plates. He added, the numbers would remain the same color.
Lt. Governor Wagner said the license plates would be available to anyone who wanted to purchase the special license plates.
Senator Jacobsen asked if this bill has student approval.
Lt. Governor Wagner said that is a legitimate question and could be answered by the representatives from the universities.
Chris Ault, Athletic Director, University of Nevada, Reno, read from prepared testimony (Exhibit E) in support of S.B. 452.
Fred C. Albrecht, Executive Director, Alumni Relations, University of Nevada, Reno, testified in favor of S.B. 452. Mr. Albrecht said this bill would generate funds and would not take any money out of the state coffers. He added, the funds would go into a scholarship endowment which would be shared evenly with the athletic department.
Senator Nevin asked who determines who gets what money.
Mr. Albrecht said his department has a plan in place. He continued there are 51 departments which would have access to the scholarship endowment. He said their goal is to see that every student has an opportunity to share in the revenues this bill creates.
Mr. Ault said the athletic department has established an endowment which would give the money, strictly, to non-revenue sports at the university.
Senator Nevin asked if the way the money is disbursed would be public information.
Mr. Ault said his department is audited three times per year and disbursement of the money would be very public.
Mr. Albrecht said the money would be set up in an account through the financial aid department and that they go through the same audit process.
Senator Nevin asked if the public would know how much money is in each endowment.
Mr. Albrecht said there are some states which have broken the money down to show where it goes. He added, it would just be a matter of internal record keeping and it could be done.
Chairman O'Donnell said section 5, subsection 3 delineates where the money would go and that the board of regents has full control over how the money will be administered.
Senator Neal said, at present, there are about 29 foundations, and at present, the board of regents does not even know where the money is going.
Senator Hickey asked how many license plates some of the other schools have sold.
Mr. Albrecht said that Pennsylvania State has sold over 11,000 license plates, Alabama State has sold over 8,000 license plates, Arizona State has sold over 3,400 license plates, the University of Arizona has sold over 3,100 license plates and the University of Iowa has sold over 1,300 license plates.
Senator Hickey asked how many license plates they projected would be sold the first year or two.
Mr. Albrecht said Arizona only generated about $38,000 their first year and within 3 years has increased by 10 times. He added, it is a matter of marketing and he looks at it as a long-term project and they do not expect to make a lot of money in the beginning but they expect to see a substantial gain the next 10 years.
Chairman O'Donnell asked if individuals could convert their present license plates to a collegiate license plate and keep the same number.
Mr. Sparks replied an individual would be able to convert their license plate for a fee of $10.
Senator Jacobsen asked how the scholarships would be awarded. He wanted to know why some individuals seem to get all the scholarships.
Mr. Ault said one person is allowed only one athletic scholarship.
Mr. Albrecht said there are various scholarship committees which control the financial aid on campus. He added, they are currently looking for the students who are juniors or seniors and who are having a hard time staying in school due to financial needs.
James T. Richardson, Nevada Faculty Alliance, Department of Sociology, testified in favor of S.B. 452. Mr. Richardson said he had not heard of any detractors to the bill and he said many people are saying "it's about time." Mr. Richardson continued that Nevada ranks "dead last" in the United States in terms of scholarship money available to needy students. He added, this bill demonstrates the fact that people are conscious of that and some of the money would go to help deal with that problem.
Sheila Strike, Athletic Department, University of Nevada, Reno, stated she is in favor of S.B. 452. Ms. Strike said her department had not designated where the money would go, but she would be happy to go back to her department and discuss that issue. She added, she likes the idea of designating the money, specifically, to the non-revenue sports and she also likes
Lt. Governor Wagner's concept of actually designating the money equally between the men and women.
Senator Jacobsen asked if there has been a differential between men and women in the scholarship area.
Ms. Strike said, currently, the men are offered, in excess of two scholarships for every one that is offered to a female. She said this is something that is not unique to UNLV and is a national issue.
Chairman O'Donnell said the academic scholarships should not be split, 50/50, but should be based on academics.
Senator Jacobsen asked Colonel Yukish if there are any license plates that are more readily identifiable than others. He also asked if there is any advantage to using different colors for the license plates.
Colonel William J. Yukish, Chief, Highway Patrol Division, Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, replied, saying his agency likes the license plates as they are. He continued that he did express some concerns over changing the colors used and they would hate to see the color of the letters changed.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the hearing on S.B. 452 and opened the work session.
Chairman O'Donnell drew attention to a bill draft request (BDR) requiring committee introduction. He passed out copies of the BDR for review and proceeded to read the BDR by number and summary:
Bill Draft Request 58-1972: Authorize common carriers to transport various items to certain charitable organizations for free or reduced rates.
SENATOR NEVIN MOVED FOR COMMITTEE INTRODUCTION OF BDR 58-1972.
SENATOR JACOBSEN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
* * * * *
Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on BDR 58-1972 and opened the work session on S.B. 428.
Senate Bill 428: Prohibits use of certain unmarked vehicles for control of traffic.
Colonel Yukish offered an amendment (Exhibit F) for the committee's review. Colonel Yukish said this bill would clearly state a policy that law enforcement agencies should not use unmarked police vehicles for the purpose of traffic law enforcement.
The committee discussed the amendment and the bill.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 428 and opened the work session on S.B. 430.
Senate Bill 430: Regulates merger of lanes of traffic and use of signals by emergency vehicles.
Colonel Yukish offered an amendment (Exhibit G) for the committee's review. The committee discussed the amendment and the bill.
Chairman O'Donnell closed the work session on S.B. 430 and asked for a motion on the bill.
SENATOR NEVIN MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS S.B. 430.
SENATOR HICKEY SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (SENATOR JAMES WAS ABSENT FOR THE VOTE.)
* * * * *
Chairman O'Donnell asked for a motion on S.B. 435.
Senate Bill 435: Increases maximum length allowed for certain buses.
SENATOR BROWN MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 435.
SENATOR NEVIN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
* * * * *
The committee discussed S.B. 272, however, no action was taken on this bill.
Senate Bill 272: Makes various changes to provisions governing issuance and suspension of drivers' licenses.
There being no further business before the committee, Chairman O'Donnell adjourned the hearing at 3:20 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Terri Jo Wittenberg,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator William R. O'Donnell, Chairman
DATE:
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