MINUTES OF THE meeting
of the
ASSEMBLY Committee on Commerce and Labor
Seventy-Second Session
April 23, 2003
The Committee on Commerce and Laborwas called to order at 2:12 p.m., on Wednesday, April 23, 2003. Chairman David Goldwater presided in Room 4100 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada, and, via simultaneous videoconference, in Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Las Vegas, 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.
Note: These minutes are compiled in the modified verbatim style. Bracketed material indicates language used to clarify and further describe testimony. Actions of the Committee are presented in the traditional legislative style.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. David Goldwater, Chairman
Ms. Barbara Buckley, Vice Chairman
Mr. Morse Arberry Jr.
Mr. Bob Beers
Mr. David Brown
Mrs. Dawn Gibbons
Ms. Chris Giunchigliani
Mr. Josh Griffin
Mr. Lynn Hettrick
Ms. Sheila Leslie
Mr. John Oceguera
Mr. David Parks
Mr. Richard Perkins
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
Mr. Ron Knecht (excused)
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
None
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Vance Hughey, Principal Research Analyst
Wil Keane, Committee Counsel
Diane Thornton, Senior Research Analyst
Sharee Gebhardt, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Bob Shriver, Executive Director, Nevada Commission on Economic Development
Charles Buel, Agency Director of Rural Clinics, State of Nevada
David Rosin, State Medical Director, Division of Mental Health & Developmental Services, State of Nevada
Edward Dannan, Justice of the Peace, Reno Justice Court, representing the Nevada Judges’ Association
Jon Sasser, Legislative Advocate, Nevada Legal Services and Washoe County Senior Law Project
David Howard, Legislative Advocate, Northern Nevada Apartment Association and Southern Nevada Multi-Housing Association
We’ll bring the hearing on Commerce and Labor to order. All members are present. Mr. Knecht will be late. There is a quorum present. We have four bills on the agenda. Mr. Shriver, since you are here, we’ll bring up the hearing on S.B. 174.
Senate Bill 174: Makes various changes concerning powers and duties of Commission on Economic Development. (BDR 18-529)
Bob Shriver, Executive Director, Nevada Commission on Economic Development:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on Commerce and Labor. Senate Bill 174 is a bill that we requested to clean up and modernize portions of our statute. It primarily updates the language and brings it into the 21st century. Also, it recognizes the importance of expansion of existing Nevada businesses, which was not part of the original statute in 1983. We think that’s one of the key elements in our economic development efforts to encourage growth of Nevada businesses and retain the ones already here. That is reflected in the language. We also recognize part of our mission, not in the original statute, to work with the community development block grant program. We administer for all of the counties except Clark and Washoe. This is basically an administrative bill to clean up the language and modernize what we do. I’d welcome any questions.
Chairman Goldwater:
Are there questions for Mr. Shriver? Did you receive a unanimous vote of consent from the Senate? [Received affirmation.] Did it even get amended?
Bob Shriver:
No, it didn’t.
Chairman Goldwater:
That’s pretty clean. Did you have any opposition in the Senate?
Bob Shriver:
No, we did not.
Chairman Goldwater:
Okay. Are there any questions for Mr. Shriver? I don’t see any. Is there anybody else here to testify on this bill? [There was no one.] We’ll close the hearing on S.B. 174. Thank you, Bob. Does anyone want to make a motion?
ASSEMBLYMAN HETTRICK MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 174.
ASSEMBLYMAN BROWN SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (Mr. Arberry, Ms. Giunchigliani, Mr. Knecht, Ms. Leslie, and Mr. Perkins were absent for the vote.)
Chairman Goldwater:
We’ll open the hearing on S.B. 83.
Senate Bill 83: Expands circumstances under which registered nurses are authorized to dispense dangerous drugs. (BDR 40-533)
Charles Buel, Agency Director of Rural Clinics, State of Nevada:
[Introduced himself.] David Rosin, State Medical Director, is on videoconference in Las Vegas, and he will provide the main testimony. I will be glad to answer any questions if you have any after he’s through.
David Rosin, M.D., State Medical Director, Division of Mental Health & Developmental Services, State of Nevada:
[Introduced himself. Spoke from prepared testimony, Exhibit C.] We’re here this afternoon to testify in support of S.B. 83. This bill was requested by our Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services (MHDS). S.B. 83 extends psychiatric medication dispensing authority to registered nurses working in the MHDS Rural Clinics providing mental health services to the severely mentally ill people living in rural Nevada.
Under current NRS 454.215 [Nevada Revised Statutes], registered nurses working in the rural clinics treating mentally ill patients do not have the authority to dispense psychiatric medications. This bill requests that these nurses be given dispensing authorization under NRS 454.215.
As of December 2002, there were over 1200 mentally ill patients residing in rural Nevada that required ongoing psychiatric medication for the treatment of severe psychiatric illness. To treat these clients, there are 2.23 FTE [full-time equivalent] contract psychiatrists who prescribe medications in 16 rural clinic sites throughout rural Nevada. In some of these rural locations, the psychiatrist is only able to come to the clinic once a month. The registered nurse is often the person who provides ongoing care between these extended psychiatric visits. Because of the scarcity of psychiatrist scheduling, the psychiatric nurse is the only medical professional available to dispense these medications, most of which arrive by mail delivery to the clinics.
As an interim measure, our Division negotiated an agreement with the DHR [Department of Human Resources] Health Division that allowed our nurses to act as agents of the Health Division in performing dispensing functions in the rural area. The Health Division nurses in rural Nevada are currently allowed to dispense medications by the Board of Pharmacy. The interim agreement was crafted on a temporary basis and will end if this bill does pass.
In summary, this bill extends dispensing authority for psychiatric medications permanently to the Division nurses who work in our rural mental health clinics. I would be happy to answer any questions.
Chairman Goldwater:
Are there any questions? Ms. Buckley, please.
Assemblywoman Buckley:
I was just wondering why the authority would not already be available under the public health program exception.
David Rosin:
In our discussions with the Board of Pharmacy, and perhaps the Board of Pharmacy could clarify that, my understanding is the public health protocol was limited to the Rural Public Health Division. So we were advised to seek a temporary solution acting as agents of the Health Division. It was on advice from the Board of Pharmacy that we sought this change. [Assemblywoman Buckley thanked him.]
Chairman Goldwater:
The bill summary from the Senate side says the bill establishes “authority to establish a procedure to replace a temporary protocol instituted through the Health Division.” Evidently they do have the authority, but they wanted to codify it. Did I characterize that correctly?
David Rosin:
Yes.
Chairman Goldwater:
Are there further questions? I don’t see any. Thank you for your testimony. Is there anybody else here to testify on S.B. 83? [No one came forward.] I’ll close the hearing on S.B. 83. I’ll open the hearing on S.B. 128.
Senate Bill 128 (1st Reprint): Allows tenant to recover immediate possession of premises from landlord under certain circumstances. (BDR 10-416)
Edward Dannan, Justice of the Peace, Reno Justice Court, representing the Nevada Judges’ Association:
[Introduced himself.] We’re here to support the bill. We already testified on S.B. 128 in the Senate Judiciary. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved passage of the bill, and I am here to speak this afternoon regarding the content of the bill. What it does, fairly simply, is to allow a tenant a remedy in the event that a landlord wrongfully excludes the tenant from the premises that the tenant is renting. At present, the landlord has the authority to bring an action for eviction for non-payment of rent or for other reasons, but the tenant only then has the opportunity to respond. Under this bill, the tenant would have the opportunity to initiate an action against the landlord if the circumstances described in the bill were to occur. There is a procedure set forth in subsection 4 of the bill for holding a hearing at our level [Justice Court] and making a decision as to whether the landlord acted properly or improperly in his decision to exclude the tenant. The bill does provide that the tenant cannot bring an additional action if the landlord has already begun an action for eviction. The tenant would then have to respond to the action already on file with our court. It would just apply if the landlord had not brought anything into court and filed any kind of complaint; then the tenant could have the opportunity to initiate a hearing in our court. I would welcome any questions from the Committee.
Chairman Goldwater:
Your Honor, thank you. Are there questions from the Committee?
Assemblywoman Buckley:
I just wanted to say that the Nevada Judges’ Association brought this bill request after Legal Services had contacted them. Currently, the way evictions work, the landlord serves a five-day eviction notice, but if the landlord illegally locks somebody out, there is no way to get back into their apartment unless one did a formal complaint to get a TRO [temporary restraining order]. Justice Court said their jurisdiction is limited to do a TRO, so they agreed to seek a bill request to try to redress this issue. It is an important one and I really appreciate the Nevada Judges’ Association taking it on and using one of their bill drafts to try to balance the scales. Thank you.
Chairman Goldwater:
Are there further questions from the Committee? I don’t see any. Thank you very much, your Honor. Is there further testimony on S.B. 128?
Jon Sasser, Legislative Advocate, Washoe Legal Services and Washoe County Senior Law Project:
[Introduced himself.] [I speak] in support of S.B. 128. There was an amendment in the Senate. You can see this is a first reprint that was passed. The amendment was one that was negotiated between myself and the Nevada Realtors’ Association to take care of some concerns that they had. We shortened the time in which the tenant must file this action from 14 days down to 5 days and removed the tenant’s right to recover attorney’s fees if the tenant prevailed. With those changes, they testified in support of the bill in the Senate and also discussed the bill with Mr. Howard from the Apartment Owners’ Association in advance of the hearing. I think we resolved any differences we had. Thank you.
David Howard, Legislative Advocate, Northern Nevada Apartment Association, Southern Nevada Multi-Housing Association:
[Introduced himself.] We have worked in concert on this bill and we’re pleased to come in and support this bill because it is a problem that has been brought to our attention. The members of our association are lawful landlords and property managers. We support this measure. Thank you.
Chairman Goldwater:
Are there questions from the Committee? Jon, is the original version something worth fighting for? Is it a compromise that you feel is workable?
Jon Sasser:
I think the compromise is workable. I would like to give Mr. Howard a pat on the back.
Chairman Goldwater:
Mr. Howard is great to work with on landlord-tenant issues. I will say that we really appreciate your good faith efforts. I see no other questions. Is there further testimony on S.B. 128? I don’t see any.
ASSEMBLYWOMAN BUCKLEY MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 128.
ASSEMBLYWOMAN GIBBONS SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. (Mr. Arberry, Ms. Giunchigliani, Mr. Knecht, Ms. Leslie, and Mr. Perkins were absent for the vote.)
Chairman Goldwater:
That was a swift passage. Who’s here on S.B. 169? [There was no one.]
Senate Bill 169: Revises certain fees related to licensure of hearing aid specialists. (BDR 54-497)
Not Heard.
Chairman Goldwater:
Meeting is adjourned.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Sharee Gebhardt
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Assemblyman David Goldwater, Chairman
DATE: