Governor gets bill adding five specialty plates

CARSON CITY — As if 25 Nevada specialty license plates weren’t enough choices for residents, the state Assembly voted Friday to add five more.

By a 35-5 vote, members approved Senate Bill 408, which increases the number of available speciality plates to 30. The bill had unanimously passed the Senate and now goes to Gov. Brian Sandoval for his veto or signature.

With the governor’s approval, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the March of Dimes, Teamsters Union Local 631, the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure and the Nevada Airport Managers Association will qualify for charitable license plates.

The specialty plates are a popular way for charities to raise revenue. Their initial and renewal costs are much higher than the typical Nevada plate with the additional fees going to the organization.

Also Friday, the Assembly passed a resolution to allow voters to decide on creating an intermediate appeals court and approved a bill regulating cosmetology, including hair-braiding businesses.

The 33-7 vote on Senate Joint Resolution 8 to create the appeals court is the latest example of the Legislature second-guessing voters’ wishes. In November, voters rejected a ballot question on creating an appeals court. They rejected a similar question in 1992.

The resolution must be approved again by legislators in 2013 before the question could go to voters in the November 2014.

Before legislators unanimously approved Senate Bill 193, which adds new Board of Cosmetology rules, Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, questioned why there are several bills each session about cosmetology.

"It’s in the hair, ladies," quipped Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas. "If it’s not the hair, it’s the shoes."