NEVADA LEGISLATURE

Sixty-ninth Session, 1997

SENATE DAILY JOURNAL

THE FIFTY-SECOND DAY

Carson City (Wednesday), March 12, 1997

Senate called to order at 10:33 a.m.
President pro Tempore Jacobsen presiding.
Roll called.
All present.
Prayer by the Chaplain, Paul Binnings.
Blessed is the spot, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.
Pledge of allegiance to the Flag.

Senator Raggio moved that further reading of the Journal be dispensed with, and the President and Secretary be authorized to make the necessary corrections and additions.
Motion carried.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

Mr. President pro Tempore:
Your Committee on Commerce and Labor, to which were referred Senate Bills Nos. 18, 90, 166, has had the same under consideration, and begs leave to report the same back with the recommendation: Do pass.

Randolph J. Townsend,

Chairman

Mr. President pro Tempore:
Your Committee on Commerce and Labor, to which was referred Senate Bill No. 106, has had the same under consideration, and begs leave to report the same back with the recommendation: Amend, and re-refer to the Committee on Commerce and Labor.

Randolph J. Townsend,

Chairman

Mr. President pro Tempore:
Your Committee on Commerce and Labor, to which was referred Senate Bill No. 125, has had the same under consideration, and begs leave to report the same back with the recommendation: Amend, and do pass as amended.

Randolph J. Townsend,

Chairman

MESSAGES FROM THE ASSEMBLY

Assembly Chamber, Carson City, March 10, 1997

To the Honorable the Senate:
I have the honor to inform your honorable body that the Assembly on this day passed Assembly Bill No. 60.
Also, I have the honor to inform your honorable body that the Assembly on this day passed, as amended, Assembly Bills Nos. 18, 69, 74, 122, 127, 141.
Also, I have the honor to inform your honorable body that the Assembly on this day adopted, as amended, Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 2.
Jacqueline Sneddon

Assistant Chief Clerk of the Assembly

MOTIONS, RESOLUTIONS AND NOTICES

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 2:
Senator Rawson moved that the resolution be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

By Senators James, Adler, Augustine, Coffin, Jacobsen, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, O'Connell, O'Donnell, Porter, Raggio, Rawson, Regan, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener:

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16--Honoring Stan and Jan Berenstain, authors of books for children.

Whereas, Jan Grant and Stanley Berenstain both spent their years of childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, absorbed in drawing and illustrating at every opportunity; and
Whereas, Jan Grant and Stan Berenstain entered the Philadelphia College of Art in 1941, where they met on the very first day of classes; and
Whereas, The couple were married on April 13, 1946, immediately after Stan's discharge from the army at the end of World War II; and
Whereas, Stan and Jan Berenstain supported themselves in the early years of their marriage by jointly creating humorous, family-oriented cartoons for magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and McCall's; and
Whereas, Stan and Jan Berenstain entered the children's book market in 1962 with the publication of The Big Honey Hunt, an instantly popular book written in rhyme about the comical adventures of a family of bears; and
Whereas, That first book and the series that it inspired, edited by Dr. Seuss and known as the Berenstain Bear books, achieved tremendous success and established Stan and Jan Berenstain as preeminent figures in the field of creating books for children; and
Whereas, In response to numerous requests for books appropriate for older children, Stan and Jan Berenstain added their sons Leo and Michael to their highly successful team and now also produce Berenstain Bears Big Chapter Books; and
Whereas, The educational messages in the Berenstain Bear books are currently disseminated via coloring books, audiocassettes, filmstrips, videocassettes, television specials and CD-ROMs; and
Whereas, There are over 100 Berenstain Bear books in print and the Berenstains consistently create relevant stories which are up-beat, colorful, instructional and funny and which offer a positive picture of family life; and
Whereas, The creative illustrations and entertaining text of the Berenstain Bears books have delighted children for many decades and continue to attain ever greater popularity and success; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly Concurring, That the members of the 69th session of the Nevada Legislature wish to honor and praise Stan and Jan Berenstain for their many achievements in the area of illustration and literature for children, especially for their creation of the delightfully charismatic, educational and entertaining Berenstain Bear family loved by countless children through the years; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and transmit copies of this resolution to Stan and Jan Berenstain and the Governor and Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, the home state of the Berenstains.
Senator James moved the adoption of the resolution.
Remarks by Senators James, Titus and Adler.
Senator James requested that the following remarks be entered in the Journal.
Senator James:
Thank you, Mr. President pro Tempore. This will be the first commemorative resolution that I have brought to this body in the three legislative sessions that I have served. I would like to explain to you why I am doing so and explain to you more about the Berenstains than does the resolution.
The Committee on Judiciary, all of whom are here today, for these last three sessions as well as before I became a member, has been working on issues which primarily affect the interests of children and attempt to protect children. We see the Judiciary Committee coming forward with penalties for crimes against children, for the abuse and neglect of children, penalties and programs to address domestic violence, issues dealing with divorce and domestic relations which affect children and determining the best interests of the child in every case. This session you have, and will continue to see, legislation to fight sex offenders against children. Many bills will be heard which deal with civilly committing sex offenders following their incarceration, warning parents, warning teachers and the communities of a sex offender's release in order to try to protect children. We will even be hearing legislation to address the horrifying resurgence of child labor in the new world economy.
The world can be a very scary place for children. Unfortunately, we do not live anymore in a world where parents can feel comfortable, feel their children are safe nor can children be safe by themselves walking to the store with money to buy candy, playing in a park, playing on a school playground after hours, or even going to a matinee at the theater escorted or unescorted by their parents on a weekend.
Perhaps the most tragic thing which happens to children is when abuse or neglect occurs in the home itself. We now know, which we did not before, that there is additional scientific evidence which proves that fear, abuse and neglect actually physiologically harms the brains of children as well as it does psychologically. It damages the brain, it damages cognitive development which causes retardation, memory lapses, anxiety, uncontrolled emotions and destroys attention span and the ability to learn.
Even if tragedy, in the area of crime, child abuse, neglect or domestic violence, doesn't strike a child, unfortunately children live in an atmosphere that is pervaded by fear and violence. You only need to look at the Saturday morning cartoons or go to an arcade and look at what children are exposed to in video games. The chances are that if the child is old enough to see over the top of a video game, he will see games in which you shoot a person, chop off their arms and the blood spurts out. There is violence on television even if they only watch network television and what is available through the standard cable channels. Before a child reaches their teen years, he or she has probably seen hundreds if not thousands of shootings or murders portrayed on what we consume everyday.
Finally, they are exposed to this kind of violence and fear in books. The Guinness Book of World Records announced recently that the third most popular children's book, of all time in the history of the world, is a book called "Goosebumps" which is based upon shocking and scaring children. It tells of things they encounter in everyday life that would tend to shock and scare them. I have a copy of a "Goosebumps" book with me today. Far be it from me to be one to press for legislation to prevent anyone's rights to write these kinds of books. I think it would be more a matter of self restraint; but we in government can do something positive. We can encourage those who are taking a different course in the entertainment media.
There are positive influences in children's lives. I would look at these as bright lights in the lives of children. Those are legislators who fight for laws to protect children - all of those here in this room, judges and government workers who dedicate their lives and careers to children's interests, and volunteers who lobby to protect children's interests. And, in the entertainment industry, there are children's authors such as A. A. Milne and Dr. Seuss who over the years have written delightful stories which have not only delighted children and parents, but have also folded deftly into the stories sound and positive moral and life messages which help children to grow and develop and help parents to deal with the problems confronting them in raising children.
Among this group of authors of children's stories who have been producing and writing this kind of work are Stan and Jan Berenstain. You have heard about their illustrious career in the reading of this resolution. They began drawing family-oriented cartoons and actually came to work with and under the tutelage of Dr. Seuss where they learned about how his way of writing would entertain children and also send positive moral messages to their lives. These stories are funny and topical stories for children. If you are a parent and have seen these books, you know that these books depict things that happen in everyday life. I have here on my desk copies of these books such as the one about a family counting its blessings; one about how children can deal with money, one about the anxiety associated with the first day of school, one about going to the doctor's office, one about going to the dentist's office, one about how you deal with getting into a fight and the great book where the bears go on vacation and the father doesn't pay any attention to any signs and has all kinds of mishaps. The children learn to follow the signs. I am sure many of you have read these books yourselves and to your children. There is even a book about running for office which talks about when "dad" runs for election and what happens to dad and to the family. There is quite an interesting lesson to be learned there.
There are now over 100 Berenstain Bears books in the series. The two sons of the Berenstains, Leo and Michael, are writers and have now developed "Chapter Books" they call Berenstain Beary Big Chapter Books. Children graduate into these chapter books where they can read longer stories. These books compete with books such as the "Goosebumps" for the older children. The Berenstains have sold over 200,000,000 books to date. There is a positive side to the reference I made to the Guinness Book of World Records because the other part of the announcement was: No. 3 was Goosebumps, but No. 1 is Dr. Seuss and the No. 2 best selling children's books authors in the entire world are Stan and Jan Berenstain. It is heartening to know that this kind of message is getting out to our children. There are untold positive effects that these books and these authors have had on children's lives throughout the world.
On behalf of the Judiciary Committee, as a member of that committee who is always coming forward looking at the other side of things and penalizing people who come after our children, although those are very important, we take a moment today to reinforce and send a message of thanks to someone who is having a positive effect on the lives of our children and hopefully helping them grow up in a better environment and a better society. For those reasons, Mr. President, I would ask that the members of the Senate adopt Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16 honoring these wonderful authors. Thank you.

Senator Titus:
Thank you, Mr. President pro Tempore. I rise in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16. I also commend the author of the resolution for bringing it to this body and for all the work he has done to protect the rights and interests of children. Just last week we celebrated "Arts Day in Nevada" and on that day we acknowledged the impact and importance of art for children. Clearly, these Berenstain Bear cartoons, bear illustrations and books demonstrate that that is the case and they demonstrate it very vividly. I would also say that this resolution, these works and the comments by the author of the resolution illustrate the point that it does "take a village to raise a child."

Senator Adler:
Thank you, Mr. President pro Tempore. I also rise in support of this resolution. I have read a great number of these books to my children to the point that I have many of them memorized. They are great books. There is a very good one on jobs and work which I particularly enjoyed. It is a great pleasure to be one of the sponsors of this resolution and to commend the Berenstains for all the work they have done on these books.
Resolution adopted.
Senator James moved that all rules be suspended and that Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 16 be immediately transmitted to the Assembly.
Motion carried.

INTRODUCTION, FIRST READING AND REFERENCE

By the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities:
Senate Bill No. 205--An Act relating to child abuse; revising the definition of child abuse for the purposes of the provisions governing abuse and neglect of children and protection of children; allowing an alleged child abuser to have access to certain information concerning an investigation of child abuse in certain circumstances; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities.
Motion carried.

By Senator Neal:
Senate Bill No. 206--An Act making an appropriation to the Life Line Pregnancy Assistance and Vocational Training Center for continuation of its nonprofit pregnancy assistance, educational and vocational training center; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Neal moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Finance.
Motion carried.

By Senators Wiener, Adler, James, McGinness, Porter and Titus:
Senate Bill No. 207--An Act relating to juvenile courts; revising the provisions governing the authority of a juvenile court to order counseling for a child and his family; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Senator Wiener moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 18.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 60.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 69.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 74.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 122.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 127.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Government Affairs.
Motion carried.

Assembly Bill No. 141.
Senator Rawson moved that the bill be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
Motion carried.

SECOND READING AND AMENDMENT

Senate Bill No. 9.
Bill read second time.
The following amendment was proposed by the Committee on Transportation:
Amendment No. 58.
Amend sec. 3, page 3, line 22, after the italicized period by inserting:
"The administrator may provide grants from the account to other public agencies to carry out the provisions of this section."
Senator O'Donnell moved the adoption of the amendment.
Remarks by Senator O'Donnell.
Amendment adopted.
Bill ordered reprinted, engrossed and to third reading.

Senate Bill No. 37.
Bill read second time.
The following amendment was proposed by the Committee on Transportation:
Amendment No. 57.
Amend the bill as a whole by deleting section 1 and renumbering sections 2 through 5 as sections 1 through 4.
Amend sec. 2, page 2, line 28, by deleting "3" and inserting "2".
Amend sec. 3, page 2, line 31, after "district" by inserting:
"that is located in a county whose population is less than 100,000".
Amend sec. 3, page 2, line 35, by deleting the italicized period and inserting:
"over fixed transit routes. Such a bus may not be used as a charter bus or tour bus.".
Amend sec. 4, page 3, line 14, by deleting "3" and inserting "2".
Amend the title of the bill to read as follows:
"An Act relating to school districts; authorizing the board of trustees of certain districts to permit the use of a school bus belonging to the district to transport persons other than pupils over fixed routes; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.".
Amend the summary of the bill to read as follows:
"Summary--Authorizes certain school districts to permit use of school buses to transport persons other than pupils. (BDR 32-71)".
Senator Adler moved the adoption of the amendment.
Remarks by Senator Adler.
Amendment adopted.
Bill ordered reprinted, engrossed and to third reading.

Senate Bill No. 38.
Bill read second time and ordered to third reading.

Senate Bill No. 53.
Bill read second time.
The following amendment was proposed by the Committee on Human Resources and Facilities:
Amendment No. 56.
Amend the bill as a whole by deleting sec. 2 and renumbering sections 3 through 9 as sections 2 through 8.
Amend the title of the bill by deleting the second and third lines and inserting:
"include the visually impaired; and providing other matters properly".
Amend the summary of the bill to read as follows:
"Summary--Changes name of bureau of services to the blind. (BDR 38-576)".
Senator Rawson moved the adoption of the amendment.
Remarks by Senator Rawson.
Amendment adopted.
Bill ordered reprinted, engrossed and to third reading.

Senate Bill No. 83.
Bill read second time and ordered to third reading.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 3 of the 68th Session.
Resolution read second time and ordered to third reading.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 14 of the 68th Session.
Resolution read second time and ordered to third reading.

GENERAL FILE AND THIRD READING

Senate Bill No. 11.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senator Rhoads.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 11:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Senate Bill No. 11 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed, as amended.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Senate Bill No. 68.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Neal, Porter and Augustine.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 68:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Senate Bill No. 68 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed, as amended.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Senate Bill No. 80.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 80:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Senate Bill No. 80 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed, as amended.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Senate Bill No. 84.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 84:
Yeas--19.
Nays--Adler, Titus--2.
Senate Bill No. 84 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Senate Bill No. 98.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 98:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Senate Bill No. 98 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Senate Bill No. 129.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Raggio, O'Donnell and James.
Senator Raggio moved that Senate Bill No. 129 be taken from the General File and placed on the Secretary's desk.
Remarks by Senator Raggio.
Motion carried.

Senate Bill No. 141.
Bill read third time.
Remarks by Senators Neal, James and O'Connell.
Conflict of interest declared by Senator O'Connell.
Roll call on Senate Bill No. 141:
Yeas--18.
Nays--None.
Not voting--O'Connell, Raggio, Townsend--3.
Senate Bill No. 141 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Assembly Bill No. 72.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Assembly Bill No. 72:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Assembly Bill No. 72 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Assembly Bill No. 78.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Assembly Bill No. 78:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Assembly Bill No. 78 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

Assembly Bill No. 89.
Bill read third time.
Roll call on Assembly Bill No. 89:
Yeas--21.
Nays--None.
Assembly Bill No. 89 having received a constitutional majority, Mr. President pro Tempore declared it passed.
Bill ordered transmitted to the Assembly.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
SIGNING OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

There being no objections, the President and Secretary signed Senate Bill No. 73; Senate Concurrent Resolutions Nos. 2, 14.

REMARKS FROM THE FLOOR

Senator James requested that his remarks be entered in the Journal.
Unfortunately, the Berenstains who reside in Pennsylvania, could not be here today. Stan Berenstain is about 75 years of age and has developed an illness which does not allow him to travel. It is unfortunate that he can not be here since I know a number of legislators who saw the resolution on the file brought their children's books to obtain autographs. Perhaps we can make some arrangements for that to be done.
We do have here a representative of the publisher of these books, Random House, who has been with the Berenstains from the very beginning as they developed this concept. Random House has been the publisher for over 40 years. So to those bright lights in children's lives, we need to add the name of publishers such as "Random House" who invest in this kind of venture to help our children. I have here representing Random House Jennifer Roseman.
Finally, Mr. President and members of the Senate, I want to tell you that I share the idea behind this resolution with someone else. That person is Louis Habash. Louis Habash is a client and business associate, and most important of all one of my longest and best friends as well as one of my most ardent supporters. Louis owns the Alexis Park Hotel in Las Vegas. He is a person who has dedicated his life and career to the interests of children. Every year, the Alexis Park Hotel gives awards to teachers who are nominated by their students as the best teachers. Every year, Louis Habash gives a Christmas party for homeless children at the Alexis Park Hotel. Recently, he purchased and took public a children's software publishing company, which is dedicated to issuing non-violent, positive computer software for the consumption of children. The company is called "Sound Source Interactive." I am proud to serve as a member of the board of directors of that company. In his work with this children's company, Louis met the Berenstains and he and I then shared the fact that we had both read these books to our children. We decided an appropriate way in which to highlight children's issues and bring this matter before the legislature would be to honor these wonderful authors.
Because the Berenstains could not be here today, I spoke with Stan Berenstain. He was absolutely thrilled that we were going to do this. He and Jan had never before received this kind of recognition, even in their home state of Pennsylvania. This is why I asked that a copy of the resolution be sent to the governor and legislature of Pennsylvania. He asked me to delay this resolution, when I first talked with him, since he wanted to make an original piece of art work for the Nevada Legislature. I now want to read to you from this picture. It is a picture of the bear family in their tree house and reads: "Our thanks to the members of the Nevada State Legislature with deep appreciation for honoring us with their generous resolution commending our work. We also wish to thank Senator Mark James and, in particular, Louis Habash." Signed: Stan and Jan Berenstain. This will hang in my office as long as I am a member of this legislature for all of us to enjoy.
Louis Habash wanted to be here today, and I wanted to introduce him to you, but unfortunately he was playing ball with his daughter and took a ball in his eye. It tore his retina and he had to have laser surgery on his eye. Sound familiar! He is currently at UCLA Medical Center and is doing very well. Louis is going to be here next week and I want then to introduce him to all of you. I am very proud of him and of my friendship with him. Since he could not be here today, he sent the General Manager of the Alexis Park Hotel Patty Morgan and Allyn Burroughs. They are representing Louis Habash here today. Let us extend them a warm welcome today.

GUESTS EXTENDED PRIVILEGE OF SENATE FLOOR

On request of Senator James, the privilege of the floor of the Senate Chamber for this day was extended to Jennifer Roseman, Patty Morgan and Allyn Burroughs.

Senator Raggio moved that the Senate adjourn until Thursday, March 13, 1997 at 11 a.m.
Motion carried.

Senate adjourned at 11:49 a.m.

Approved:

Lawrence E. Jacobsen

President pro Tempore of the Senate
Attest: Janice L. Thomas
Secretary of the Senate