200 new state laws take effect

For Southern Nevada motorists, a $154 million appropriation to widen Interstate 15 north of the Spaghetti Bowl may be one of the more welcome measures. The Department of Transportation has two proposals already submitted for the project, which is expected to get under way later this summer.

One of the more timely measures, given the massive wildfire in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., that started June 24, provides $150,000 to the Division of State Parks for thinning forests to reduce fire danger.

The bill also requires state agencies to evaluate the plan for protecting the Lake Tahoe Basin from wildfires.

About 200 new state laws, more than a third of all laws passed by lawmakers this year, took effect.

During the regular 2007 session and the brief special session that followed, legislators passed 558 new laws. Some took effect as soon as they were passed and signed by Gov. Jim Gibbons. Others have effective dates of July 1 and Oct. 1 this year, and Jan. 1 and July 1, 2008.

One measure that took effect Sunday should give the public more access to information about decisions by the Department of Taxation in taxpayer appeals.

The new law will require such hearings to be conducted in the open, except when confidential taxpayer information is presented to the panel.

Nevada’s child welfare crisis will also get some much needed relief from new laws, including a boost in the daily foster care rate from $21.50 to $24, then to $28 on July 1, 2008.

“The new rate in Nevada is one of the highest in the nation,” said Mike Willden, director of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Our intent is to work in partnership with counties providing foster care services to recruit and enlist a much greater number of foster care parents who can provide a safe and nurturing environment for children in need.”

In response to concerns about the increasing number of children who have died from abuse or neglect, legislators also passed a bill requiring more disclosure about the nature of child deaths or near deaths.

Families in need of cash assistance from the state Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program will see the first boost in the grant in more than a decade.

The average three-person household now receives up to $348 per month in cash assistance. That maximum amount will increase to $383. Different payment levels are applied to each case, depending on the size of the household.

Based on the caseload through May 2007, about 5,600 households may be affected.

A number of new laws are aimed at public education, including one creating the policy for Nevada to implement an empowerment schools program and another creating a pay-for-performance pilot project for teachers.

The health of both men and women is addressed in a new law that will require many insurance policies to cover both a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and the costs of prostate cancer screening.

Consumers will also have the ability to better evaluate the delivery of health care. The new law requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a program and Web site to provide information about the cost and quality of services provided by hospitals.

Children should find themselves safer from predators with a new law that requires the worst sex offenders to reside at least 1,000 feet away from a school or other place frequented by children.

The measure provides for electronic monitoring of offenders. It also requires sex offenders to register with local law enforcement before being released from prison.

The old law required registration within 48 hours of release. The new law combines legislation sought by Gibbons and state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas.

Titus said both the cervical cancer vaccine and sex offender measures were two she is most proud of seeing passed this session.

“But we also got some more money for all-day kindergarten, and the empowerment schools bill is the version we proposed,” she said.

Gibbons made empowerment schools one of his top priorities for the session. The governor originally asked for $60 million to implement the program in 100 schools.

The final budget has almost $10 million for a program at 29 schools. The concept gives principals more autonomy over the operation of their school’s educational programs.

Titus said another of her measures requiring an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions is also important for Nevadans.

The greenhouse gas bill “didn’t get a lot of attention but will have a long-term impact,” she said.

Gibbons press secretary, Melissa Subbotin, cited several measures that the governor is pleased with, including the funding for empowerment schools, the tougher sex offender laws, and $2 billion in much-needed transportation funding.

Gibbons was also happy to get a raise in the homestead exemption and funding for the creation of a National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program to provide at-risk children with the resources needed to earn a high school diploma.

“Most importantly, these bills did not include new or increased taxes, upholding the pledge Governor Gibbons made to the hardworking people of this state,” Subbotin said.

State Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said she was pleased, after many failed attempts, to finally get a bill through the Legislature prohibiting video voyeurism.

The measure, which prohibits the capturing of a person’s private area with a camera or video where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, does not take effect until Oct. 1, however.

Another of her measures, creating a P-16 Council to look at restructuring education, will have a big impact on the state, she said.

The council, which will look at issues from preschool through college, is in the process of being appointed.

“And overall for all of us, I am glad we got the transportation bill passed,” Cegavske said. “I’m glad we were able to get something done on that.”

Pushed by Gibbons, the measure reallocates various existing tax revenues to generate $1 billion in bonds for major unfunded road projects, particularly in Southern Nevada.

It is part of an overall $2 billion road budget.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.