MINUTES OF THE meeting

of the

ASSEMBLY Committee on Government Affairs

 

Seventy-First Session

June 2, 2001

 

 

The Committee on Government Affairswas called to order at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 2, 2001.  Chairman Douglas Bache presided in Room 3143 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.  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:

 

Mr.                     Douglas Bache, Chairman

Mr.                     John J. Lee, Vice Chairman

Ms.                     Merle Berman

Mr.                     David Brown

Mrs.                     Dawn Gibbons

Mr.                     David Humke

Mr.                     Harry Mortenson

Mr.                     Roy Neighbors

Ms.                     Bonnie Parnell

Mr.                     Bob Price

Mrs.                     Debbie Smith

Ms.                     Kathy Von Tobel

Mr.                     Wendell Williams

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS EXCUSED:

 

Mrs.                     Vivian Freeman

 

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

 

Senator Bill R. O’Donnell, Clark District No. 5

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Eileen O’Grady, Committee Counsel

Dave Ziegler, Committee Policy Analyst

Glenda Jacques, Committee Secretary

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

Alex Haartz, Deputy Administrator, Nevada Health Division

 

 

Vice Chairman Lee opened the hearing on S.B. 319.

 

Senate Bill 319:  Provides for licensing and regulation of halfway houses for alcohol and drug abusers as facilities for dependent and repeals requirements for certification of operators of such halfway houses. (BDR 40-1211)

 

Senator Bill R. O’Donnell, Clark District No. 5, stated the Hillcrest area in Las Vegas had been targeted by individuals who produced halfway homes and had caused a clustering effect in the area.  Federal regulations govern halfway homes but were silent on the distance between homes.  Assemblyman John Oceguera introduced A.B. 395 that required 1500 feet between all new halfway homes.  The clustering problem continued between existing homes.  S.B. 319 required halfway homes to adhere to all laws propagated by the state and county licensure ordinances.  The homes would not be licensed unless they met the 1500 feet distance requirement.  Unlicensed homes would cease to function and would revert back to a single-family home.  S.B. 319 was a sister bill to A.B. 395.

 

Vice Chairman Lee stated the committee had added the word “recovering” to alcohol and drug abusers in A.B. 395 and questioned whether it should be added to S.B. 319.

 

Senator O’Donnell felt the homes were defined as halfway homes for recovering addicts and did not know if the additional language was necessary.

 

Alex Haartz, Deputy Administrator, Nevada Health Division, said the addition of “recovering” to the bill would make it consistent with community and local ordinances.  “Recovering” was not in statute and would add clarification to NRS Chapter 458.

 

Ms. Berman asked how many homes were in the neighborhood in question.  Mr. Haartz did not know how many homes were in the neighborhood.  He did know the health division had problems with the homes.  S.B. 161 of the Seventieth Legislative Session established the halfway homes for alcohol and drug abusers in NRS Chapter 458 and A.B. 181 of the Seventieth Legislative Session transferred those homes to the health department for administration.  The Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (BADA) was required to certify the homes.  Certification was registration and it was unclear whether business licenses, local zoning approval or state certification came first.  Las Vegas had 40 certified halfway homes.  Clustering was predominately in the Las Vegas area and not found in rural or northern Nevada.

 

Chairman Bache asked Ms. O’Grady to explain how adding “recovering” to the bill would affect it.

 

Eileen O’Grady, Committee Counsel, replied the bill did not need the addition of “recovering” because there was a “shotgun clause” in A.B. 395 that would change the name when the bill was codified. 

 

Mrs. Smith asked where the enforcement came from to require halfway homes be certified.

 

Mr. Haartz stated NRS 458.141 through NRS 458.171 provided statutory language to certify halfway homes for alcohol and drug abusers.  The statute was unclear who had enforcement jurisdiction.  NRS Chapter 449 gave the state jurisdiction over any facility that treated dependents, but BADA was responsible for certifying the programmatic activity.  Certification was required to receive state funding but halfway homes were not monitored for structural compliance.

 

Mr. Humke asked if Mr. Haartz’s department monitored the facilities and BADA monitored the programs.

 

Mr. Haartz replied not entirely.  The Health Division regulated and licensed facilities and the certification came from BADA.  A.B. 181 of the Seventieth Legislative Session transferred BADA from the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETER) to the Department of Human Resources (DHR).  The director of the DHR placed BADA in the Health Division.  S.B. 300 would formally transfer BADA to the Health Division.

 

Mr. Humke asked why a representative from BADA was not here to testify.  Mr. Haartz said it was his responsibility to come before the Assembly Committee on Government Affairs.

 

Mr. Humke asked if Mr. Haartz had instructed BADA to not be here and if he was BADA certified.  Mr. Haartz replied he did not and he was not BADA certified.

 

Mr. Humke asked if anyone in his division was BADA certified.  Mr. Haartz replied the administrative staff was not, but the staff of BADA was.

 

Mr. Humke wanted to see a memorandum from the Attorney General to sort out the enforcement conflicts in the bill.

 

Vice Chairman Lee was not sure where Mr. Humke’s questioning was going and wondered if Ms. O’Grady could answer any legal questions he had.

 

Mr. Humke felt it was up to the executive branch to sort out regulations.  Transferring BADA from DETER to the Health Division had corrected some of the problems of the 1990 state reorganization, but regulations were spread out over two NRS statutes and he felt BADA should be here to explain them.  He felt citizens in treatment needed BADA to protect their rights.

 

Senator O’Donnell stated S.B. 319 did not affect the movement of BADA and he felt it was important for licensure to be under health statutes.  Currently there was no licensure and BADA did not oversee the homes.  The bill provided interaction to ensure proper treatment and a forum for complaints.  Halfway homes were an integral part of the community and recovering addicts needed to be integrated into the community and receive support to get their lives on track.  Clustered halfway homes fostered undesirable behavioral patterns.  The federal government protected halfway houses but was silent on the distances between them.  S.B. 319 helped halfway house residents and prohibited the owners from taking advantage of them.

 

Mr. Humke asked if the state funded halfway houses.  Mr. Haartz replied negatively.  People paid rent to live in the homes and no treatment services were provided.  The homes were commonly called “sober living environments.”  Single-family homes were converted into apartments and rented out to individuals that chose to live there.

 

Mr. Humke asked for a description of the treatment programs available.  Mr. Haartz stated it would depend on the individual.  Typically, an individual would attend a treatment program and enroll in after-care upon graduation.  After-care might require them to live in a “sober living environment” and attend outpatient treatment programs.  The “sober living environment” removed them from other addicts and reintegrated them back into society with individuals who worked and were productive.  Nevada’s roll was to certify the homes.

 

Ms. Parnell asked why the halfway homes were exempted from page 1 and 2 of the bill.  She did not want to treat other assisted living homes differently than halfway homes.

 

Senator O’Donnell stated the homes were moved from NRS Chapter 449 to NRS Chapter 458.  The homes were not being treated differently.

 

Ms. Berman stated rehabilitation houses were very evident in neighborhoods and licensure was needed to monitor them.  Homeowners had a right to not have their neighborhoods blighted with halfway homes.  It was important to know where the halfway homes were.

 

Mr. Mortenson asked what certification consisted of.  Mr. Haartz explained an application, a copy of their policies and procedures of their business license, and an annual fee were required.

 

Mr. Mortenson asked if specific policies and procedures were required.  Mr. Haartz said no halfway house in Nevada had been certified because of the jurisdiction confusion.

 

Mrs. Smith asked if licensure required homeowners to be notified of halfway houses in their neighborhoods.  Mr. Haartz said notification was a local issue.

 

Senator O’Donnell stated the federal government forbade zoning restrictions on halfway homes and, therefore, no one would be notified.  Licensure would require adherence to state laws and county ordinances.

 

Mr. Price asked about the difference between homeowners renting rooms and a halfway home.

 

Senator O’Donnell replied halfway homes were well known and advertised.  Any homeowner who rented out rooms must conform to county ordinances.  Any halfway house that advertised for residents needed to be licensed.

 

Ms. Von Tobel stated her son gained monetary benefit from halfway homes and she would abstain from voting.

 

ASSEMBLYMAN NEIGHBORS MADE A MOTION TO DO PASS S.B. 319.

 

ASSEMBLYWOMAN GIBBONS SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

Mr. Humke stated for the record,

 

“I believe the bill, if passed into statute, would set up disparate treatment for certain persons and I think that the concerns that I have could be helpful to certain public interest law firms who may be interested in remedial actions through the federal or state courts.  I am not opposed to the intent of the bill, I understand there is a concern with the clustering and probably a concern with the numerocity of the number of people treated in these homes and that is right on the cusp between local enforcement and state enforcement and usually that number is five or six, but I am concerned that if we start here then we’ll look at some of the other programs and some of the grouping of these facilities.  DCFS, [Division of Child and Family Services] our own state agency, has group homes for adolescents where they treat child abuse and neglect victims, where they treat mental health patients, where they treat juvenile offenders and where they treat drug abuse and alcohol patients.  There is a similar scheme with both of the large counties, Washoe and Clark County, the same list of community group care with the same problems:  child abuse and neglect, mental health, juvenile offenders, drug abuse and alcohol.  Then the county still has foster care and are we going to allow or not allow group foster care homes to be located in certain neighborhoods?  Then we turn next to medical treatment programs for children with various disabilities and the same is true for adults.  We also have the mentally retarded, are we going to come after them next?  Some of my concerns have to do with the right to privacy, the right to travel and the right to treatment, which is well known in federal case law.  I’m concerned with violations of federal statutes, perhaps Title Seven of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, and other acts and specifically ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] and I request these remarks be recorded verbatim in the minutes so they could be useful to those persons who are concerned about disparate treatments for whatever purpose they could make of them.”

 

THE MOTION CARRIED WITH ASSEMBLYMAN HUMKE VOTING NAY AND ASSEMBLYWOMAN VON TOBEL ABSTAINING.

 

Vice Chairman Lee stated they would not adjourn the meeting but would recess to the call of the Chair at 9:55 a.m. in case something else came to the committee.

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

Glenda Jacques

Committee Secretary

 

 

APPROVED BY:

 

 

 

                       

Assemblyman Douglas Bache, Chairman

 

 

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