Three ‘sunshine’ bills heard by Nevada Legislature

CARSON CITY — Shining a brighter light on the legislative process, from requiring additional reporting by lobbyists to implementing restrictions on gifts that could be given to lawmakers, was the focus of three measures heard in the Legislature on Tuesday.

The bills were heard during Sunshine Week, an annual national effort by journalism advocacy and other groups to promote open government.

Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, testified for Senate Bill 203, which requires paid lobbyists to report their spending on lawmakers when the Legislature is not in session.

There is no such reporting requirement now.

A similar bill was heard in the Assembly last week.

“It only makes sense to make sure that lobbyists who are required to report during the session report after the session,” Jones said.

The bill would make it clear that the quarterly reporting requirements apply to paid lobbyists and not those who serve in an unpaid capacity, Jones said.

Jones was followed by Secretary of State Ross Miller, who is seeking changes to Nevada’s campaign reporting practices in his Senate Bill 49, which he is calling the Aurora Act.

Aurora is the name of the search engine on Miller’s website allowing the public to search campaign and financial disclosure reports. It was established after major campaign finance reform bills were passed in the 2011 session.

Both bills were heard by the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee.

The gift limitation provisions are necessary to update Nevada’s antiquated laws, Miller said.

“Obviously not every gift provided to a public officer has an ulterior motive behind it,” he said. “And that is why we have attempted to craft legislation that does provide for an allowable set of gifts to be made. But we’ve also attempted to ban certain gifts that could lead to at least the appearance of improprieties that result from lax restrictions on this activity.”

Later in the day, Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, R-Reno, testified in support of Assembly Bill 77, which would require a one legislative session cooling-off period before lawmakers could work as paid lobbyists in the Legislature.

“With approximately 34 other states having enacted similar legislation, this bill will help prevent the ‘revolving door’ practice of parlaying legislative clout into lobbying prowess,” he said in a statement announcing the hearing on his bill before the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee.

Because questions were raised during testimony, none of the bills saw immediate action in committee.

Jones’ off-session lobbyist reporting bill is modeled after legislation sought by former Sen. Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, in 2011, which failed to pass in the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee.

The bill would require lobbyists to disclose trips provided to lawmakers for “fact-finding” missions in-between legislative sessions.

Three lawmakers, former state Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, who is serving in the House of Representatives in District 4, Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas, and Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, took such trips in 2010 that were paid for by PokerStars, a company that sought online gaming legislation in 2011.

The lawmakers were not required to report the trip as gifts on their annual financial disclosure statements.

They were advised by legislative legal staff that the trips were appropriate.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.