The Committee on Transportation was called to order at 1:45 p.m., on Thursday, February 4, 1999. Chairwoman Vonne Chowning presided in the rear lobby of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada, for a tour to be conducted of the Nevada State Prison License Plate Manufacturing Operations. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Guest List. All Exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mrs. Vonne Chowning, Chairwoman

Ms. Genie Ohrenschall, Vice Chairwoman

Mr. John Carpenter

Mr. Jerry Claborn

Mr. Don Gustavson

Mrs. Kathy McClain

Mr. David Parks

Ms. Bonnie Parnell

Mr. Kelly Thomas

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

Mr. Douglas Bache - Excused

Mrs. Barbara Cegavske - Excused

Mr. Tom Collins - Excused

Mr. Dennis Nolan - Excused

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

Senator Lawrence Jacobsen

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

OTHERS PRESENT:

Chairwoman Chowning instructed all members of the Assembly Committee on Transportation and guests to load the buses, which would take them to the Nevada State Prison. The committee arrived at the prison, located at Fifth and Edmonds Streets at 1:53 p.m.

Warden John Ignacio and Assistant Director John Slansky greeted the committee, and led them from the front gate to the license plate manufacturing facility.

Bruce Manning, Superintendent of Operations at the license plate facility, greeted the committee. Chairwoman Chowning introduced Mr. Manning to all committee members and guests.

Mr. Manning led the committee into the facility to begin the tour. He explained the current Nevada license plates were manufactured from past recycled aluminum plates because of their special 8118 alloy. Rolls of aluminum weighing 1,600 to 2,000 pounds were placed onto a crank device, which sent the uncut aluminum to a hot water tank. Mr. Manning stated four license plates could be made from 1-pound of aluminum. A tank removed all impurities of the aluminum by heating it to 100 degrees Celsius.

The specific design of the plate was then placed on the aluminum. A decal was used and sealed to the aluminum with a laser. One plate per second was then cut to resemble the license plates on all cars (Exhibit C). There were 69 different styles of plates for Nevada, some of which were: veteran, state agency, state Assembly, Tahoe, collegiate, and apportioned, which were used only on trucks that operate in several states.

At that stage the plates were embossed with numbers and letters. Two inmates operated the embossing machine; the first changed the numbers while the second stamped them onto the plate. About 1,000 plates ran through the machine in an hour. A third inmate stacked the plates, which prepared them for final coating. He then checked the numbers on the plates to make sure there were no duplicates.

The raised letters and numbers were coated with blue ink and the entire plate was sprayed with iridescent ink, which gave it a reflective quality. The plates were then placed on a conveyer belt that baked the plates to seal all ink and were cured at 1,250,000 British Thermal Units (BTUs).

As the plates moved to the final area another inmate checked the numbers again to make sure there were no duplicates. That inmate stacked the two plates together and sent the completed plates to another inmate who wrapped and boxed the plates for delivery.

On the day of the tour the facility was making regular automobile and truck plates. Personalized plates are made once a week. Mr. Manning explained the facility must make between 5,000 and 6,000 plates per day to keep up with the amount of new growth in the state. During the last fiscal year 1.2 million license plates were made at the Nevada State Prison. The facility was currently at 1 million plates.

Mr. Manning retains 80,000 extra sets of license plates. This is done in case one of the machines fails, because the facility has no spare machinery. Each week 60,000 new plates are sent down to Las Vegas, so it is necessary to continually replenish the supply.

Assemblywoman Chowning inquired how inmates were chosen to work in the license plate facility.

Mr. Manning explained the followed procedure was he would send a request to the warden of the prison as to the number of people he needed. The warden then screened inmates and sent them to Mr. Manning as needed. There were 16 inmates who worked on the floor of the facility. Inmates started out earning $.85 per hour and maxxed out at $1.50 per hour. The facility is open 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Money was taken out of the inmates’ pay for a variety of things; 24 percent goes toward room and board, 20 percent to a savings account for the inmate, and 20 percent to victims’ families. Many inmates send the rest of the money to their families.

Assemblywoman Ohrenschall inquired of the savings account, and wondered where the money went. Mr. Manning assured Ms. Ohrenschall the inmates received their money upon release.

Ms. Ohrenschall then asked about the skills the inmates were learning and if they would be applicable upon their release. Mr. Manning said inmates were learning basic factory skills, such as operating compressors and other machinery, which could be applied to various industries in Nevada.

Mr. Manning went on to say by operating the facility through the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the state was able to keep the cost per plate lower than other states. By using the prison Nevada paid $.50 per plate, while other states paid an average of $1.03 per plate. Mr. Manning’s overhead consisted of three full-time employees, three vehicles, and the cost of the inmates.

Nevada had been making souvenir license plates for a number of years, which people had been able to use for show. Those plates had also been produced in the prison facility. There were 6,000 plates produced once a week, which had involved about 3 hours.

Mr. Carpenter inquired about the amount of time it took to order personalized license plates from the state. Mr. Manning explained the process usually took 2 to 3 weeks. The requests were processed at the location where the plates were ordered and checked for duplication. The requests were then sent to the prison facility, where the turnaround time was 1 week.

Mrs. Chowning then asked if and when citizens of the state who had the old style blue plates would be able to have them redone. Mr. Manning explained four different types of blue dye had been used during the years the blue plates were made. To refurbish all the old plates the dye had to be changed every time, which increased the cost to the facility. Other problems with refurbishing the old plate were: the size of the embossed "Nevada" on the top of the plates was changed approximately 3 times, and a "69" was stamped onto the upper right corner one year. Each situation would require the facility to change the machines, costing more money to replace the old plates. Because of public demand to keep those plates the DMV was requesting $79,000 to purchase a new machine, which would be used only to refurbish those plates. Mr. Manning continued to say no one was quite sure how many of the blue plates were still in use. One estimate was around 250,000. Another option would have been to create one uniform blue plate that could be issued by turning in the old plate once it could no longer be read.

Mrs. Chowning explained to the committee that new plates were in the design stage. She was hoping to have a more colorful plate with blue and silver as the primary colors. However, she did not know when the design would be completed.

Assemblyman Parks asked about having the legislative plates produced with the special Lake Tahoe design. Mr. Manning said he saw no reason why it could not be done, but no one had asked for that.

Mr. Carpenter queried about the progress of the firefighters’ license plates and what had happened to their money. Mr. Manning explained the firefighters’ had not turned in any money since there was no money in the DMV budget to create the plate. The Tahoe plate cost the DMV an extra $50,000 and they were unable to complete a firefighters plate because of there were no extra dollars available. Mr. Manning went on to say there were seven other special plates which groups wanted produced. However, there was no money in the budget for any of them.

With no further questions the committee was given a brief tour of the prison, then lead back to the front gate of the prison by Warden Ignacio and Mr. Slansky. There being no further business before the committee, Chairman Chowning adjourned the meeting at 3:08 p.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Jennifer Batchelder,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, Chairwoman

DATE: