6,Thursday, July 31, 1997 I?ahxump k'ailey Gazette
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Legislat gone fishin' aft00,.JF longest session ever
Well, it turned out to the be the longest and most expensive legisla-
tive session in Nevada history -- but they finally hung the "gone
fishin" sign on the door.
Without a doubt the biggest, and most controversial, bill passed this
session is AB291 which allows county commissioners to raise the tax
for infrastructure needs. Hah. Our commissioners think infrastruc-
ture is the chair they're sitting on.
Computer nerds got a boost from a bill that has been signed into law,
SB13, which dishes out penalties for transmitting e-mail advertising
without the user's consent. The more curious facet of this law is to
contemplate just how they're going to enforce it. I have no idea and I
suspect they don't either.
An important health measure, also signed into law, is SB428 which
provides insurance benefits for drug and alcohol treatment. These
benefits are minimum. Hey, you may groan, "my premiums will go up
to pay for the drunks and sniffers." But, how else are we going to help
people to straighten out their life?
AB557 requires the development of emergency preparedness plans
for child care facilities. Most competent facilities would already have
such plans but this will help to ensure that a//places that may care for
our children are prepared to instruct them in an emergency. Back
through history there are far too many examples of lives being lost
through poor planning. I don't like government getting into our
business lives any more than the next person but this is a good bill.
SB281 is another bill that provides protection where it is sorely
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The "huddle" in football was formed due to a
deaf football player who used sign language to
communicate and his team didn't want the oppo-
you
know sition to see the signals he used and in turn
huddled around him.
needed. This is the "Rape is Murder" bill. It removes rape from the
statute of limitations, as it should be. These creeps shouldn't get away
with something just because some time ran out.
Another good bill, and one l've been harping about in this column
for some time now, is SB145 which requires a sheriff or police with
whom a convicted person has registered to forward information to a
state central repository. Guess you could call this a "spread the word"
bill. The only problem, as rve discussed, is getting them to register as
a ex-felon to begin with.
Children of Nye BEWARE! The penalty for gross misdemeanors
committed on school property, on school buses or at bus stops have
been greatly enhanced. ABSI5 addresses this issue and I'm not terribly
familiar with the contents. I believe it increases the penalties, not
necessarily the nature of the offense. Maybe someone can bring me up
to date on this bill -- it sounds like a good one.
Speaking of school buses, another bill requires school districts to
adopt safety programs for students who ride school buses. I was
surprised to learn that there is currently no such program. Personally,
if they want to get serious about the school bus program m require
safety belts! It's disgusting how the school districts can get away with
that.
This was just a sampling of our over-extended legislative session.
There was much more, of course. I congratulate our representatives
for one of the most productive sessions in Nevada history.
Maybe next year we can get seat belts on school buses.
Target
by Joe Richards
from the
Kingdom of Nye
Vghether you
hate him or love
him, he won't let
you ignore him!
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