MINUTES OF THE
SENATE Committee on Government Affairs
Seventy-second Session
March 28, 2003
The Senate Committee on Government Affairs was called to order by Chairman Ann O'Connell, at 10:12 a.m., on Friday, March 28, 2003, in Room 2135 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. The meeting was videoconferenced to the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Room 4412, 555 East Washington Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster. All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Senator Ann O'Connell, Chairman
Senator Sandra Tiffany, Vice Chairman
Senator William J. Raggio
Senator Randolph J. Townsend
Senator Warren B. Hardy II
Senator Dina Titus
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Terry Care (Excused)
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Senator Mike McGinness, Central Nevada Senatorial District
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Michael Stewart, Committee Policy Analyst
Scott Wasserman, Committee Counsel
Tara DeWeese, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Pamela Scott, Lobbyist, The Howard Hughes Corporation
Renee Parker, Chief Deputy Secretary of State, Office of the Secretary of State
Deborah K. Cahill, Lobbyist, Nevada State Education Association
Chairman O’Connell:
We will open the hearing on Senate Bill (S.B.) 359.
SENATE BILL 359: Revises provisions relating to freedom to display flag of United States. (BDR 22-310)
Pamela Scott, Lobbyist, The Howard Hughes Corporation:
The Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor is considering S.B. 100, which has language regarding the right to fly a flag. We are all supportive of it; however, there are some minor inconsistencies with S.B. 359, so I have recommended an amendment to the bill, (Exhibit C). This amendment refers to the U.S. Flag Code, which I believe has been discussed by the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor on S.B. 100. The second suggested amendment to page 3, section 4, is to add a new subsection, taking the language out of S.B. 100, which says, “An association may adopt rules reasonably restricting the placement and manner of display of a flag of the United States by a unit’s owner.” Basically those are my only comments to suggest for consistency.
SENATE BILL 100: Makes various changes to provisions governing common‑interest communities. (BDR 10-29)
Chairman O’Connell:
What is the other amendment you suggested?
Ms. Scott:
As you may recall when we were talking about S.B. 100 in committee hearings, the committee said it would like to see a reference made to proper flag etiquette and that is what the United States Code, Title 4, chapter 1 is. It is simply my recommendation we add to the definition of “displaying a flag” and each of the sections where it is referenced in S.B. 359, and also to add language in a manner consistent with the United States Code. Whether you want to reference Title 4, chapter 1, sections 1 to 10 of the code, is something the Legislative Counsel Bureau would have to determine.
Chairman O’Connell:
We will close the hearing on S.B. 359 and open the hearing on S.B. 309.
SENATE BILL 309: Makes various changes concerning support for participatory democracy. (BDR 18-1167)
Senator Mike McGinness, Central Nevada Senatorial District:
I was supposed to be the “this is a great bill” guy and there were supposed to be some people behind me, like Larry Struve, as well as the folks who helped draft the bill. The goal of S.B. 359 is to keep people and youngsters in the loop in politics, voting, and being involved in the democratic process. This is a good bill.
Chairman O’Connell:
They have asked you to put the bill in for them? You have accommodated them, so we need to discuss it.
Renee Parker, Chief Deputy Secretary of the State, Office of the Secretary of State:
Our former elections deputy, Susan Bilyeu, sat on the committee and the committee prepared a report on participatory democracy. It was my understanding, however, that Mr. Struve was going to present today and Ms. Libby was on her way over here.
Chairman O’Connell:
Is there any problem with the secretary of state’s office? From reading this, I see it has a lot to do with him appointing the board. Does he feel conciliatory about this, and does he have a problem with the demands on his time as far as what is being requested?
Ms. Parker:
Absolutely. I think it furthers our goals in the office; the participatory democratic process and increasing voter turnout, et cetera, to assist us with other people to help us in the endeavor, and we do not foresee any fiscal impact on our office. We have some staff members who have become very good at taking minutes based on the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) advisory committee meetings, so we do not have any concerns with that. We hired a new elections deputy who will be starting on April 14, and we are anticipating additional staff in our elections division who will be funded with HAVA federal funds in the future, so I think we are prepared to assist in any way.
Chairman O’Connell:
Is this the way these committees are being handled across the country? Nationally, is it the secretaries of state who are going to promote it and disseminate information from the advisory committee?
Ms. Parker:
I believe, for the most part, with respect to participatory democracy issues, they are.
Senator Townsend:
I think we all have the same concept about participatory democracy, but I have a question about government classes in schools. Is there something this group sees that can be immediate and help drive participation? I am not only referring to voting, but also getting people active and understanding issues, which makes you a participatory individual. Is there something there?
Senator Titus:
There are a couple of things this commission would like to do once it has been formalized. One of the things is to create a Jean Ford Award for participation. She is a great example of someone who is involved in all sorts of community and public services. That would be a way to highlight individuals who are participating. Another thing this would do is allow people to apply for and receive grants for the kinds of programs designed to encourage participatory democracy. Some of the grants come from the National Conference of State Legislatures, We the People: Project Citizen, where Legislators go to schools and visit classrooms. The State Bar of Nevada has a law-related program of continuing education for teachers on how to encourage people to get involved in the process. These are all examples of programs the grants can fund. I am sorry Larry Struve is not here, but these are the types of projects they want to pursue.
Chairman O’Connell:
I once participated in a program called We The People, where students would participate in Saturday classes. All of it was done outside the classroom; what an amazing program.
Senator Tiffany:
It is a very impressive program and it is tied into this. In fact, Judy Simpson, who is a coordinator of We The People, and a member of the participatory commission, worked with the humanities committee and with Larry Struve. All of that is very much the same approach.
Chairman O’Connell:
That is certainly a worthwhile program I would recommend to this committee, if this is associated with it, that we should support it wholeheartedly.
Deborah K. Cahill, Lobbyist, Nevada State Education Association:
We are not in opposition to participatory democracy; there is just one section of the bill that causes some concern. It is section 12, subsection 2, which would appear to head us in the direction where completing a course in participatory democracy would tie directly to teacher licensure. We have always registered some concern about attaching other requirements to teacher licensure not directly related to the instruction in the classroom. We just wanted to register that concern. We have a lot of teachers who are going to be struggling to qualify as highly-qualified teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and many of them will have to have additional course work. This could potentially be an onerous requirement for them if we end up going in that direction. This does not mandate that at this time, but it does point us in that direction. I just wanted to raise the issue.
Chairman O’Connell:
Are you talking about section 12? Is this not already a part of the law? I am not seeing new language there. Are you looking at S.B. 309?
Ms. Cahill:
This is transitory language. This is going to have the State board consider this as a possibility. We think teachers need to be actively involved in the process; we have a concern with it being tied to licensure.
Chairman O’Connell:
We will close the hearing on S.B. 309 and adjourn the meeting at 10:32 am.
Tara DeWeese,
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Senator Ann O'Connell, Chairman
DATE: