Editor:
Janine Hansen
In
the Year of Our Lord
Vol.
32, No.3
Nevada
Legislature is in Full Swing!
Wow! We have been so busy, sometimes testifying on 3, 4 or 5 different bills in a single day at the Nevada Legislature. Lynn Chapman out Eagle Forum State Vice-Chairman is with me at the Legislature constantly. I also want to thank John Wagner from the Nevada Republican Assembly and David Schumann from the Independent American Party and the Nevada Committee for Full Statehood for their tremendous efforts with us at the Legislature.
We continue to need your financial support. We don’t have any time during the Legislature for fundraising projects. We greatly appreciate you--our supporters! Thanks!
I will mention below a few of the most
important bills we are following. However,
things move so fast…posted one day hearing 2 days later…that the only way for
you to keep up is to either signup for our email or fax alerts. Contact us at 775-356-9055
or info@nevadafamilies.org
Your CALLS, FAXES, and EMAILS make a
huge difference!!!
Phone Message Center: You can leave a general
message for the members of a committee, the whole Senate or Assembly or ask to be
connected to a specific legislator.
Reno/Sparks/Carson: 684-6789, Las
Vegas (toll free) 486-2626, Toll Free: 1-800-995-9080
Senate Fax: 775-684-6522 Assembly
Fax: 775-684-8533
Emails addresses: Are the first letter of the
Legislators and their last name then:
For the Senate @sen.state.nv.us or for the Assembly @asm.state.nv.us
Property Taxes:
The Legislature seems to be at a standstill on how to resolve the
property tax crisis. There is still time to
contact them and let them know you want property tax relief. Many think that a Constitutional Amendment like
Prop. 13 in California is the answer. We also
need to limit government spending like the TABOR Taxpayer Bill of Rights does in Colorado. You can get more info on TABOR at www.nvtabor.com I felt our efforts on Axe the Tax were
very successful. I testified in favor of property tax relief and closed by mentioning that
I didn’t want to have to get signatures again. Speaker
Perkins chairman of the Committee said, “We don’t want you to get signatures
again either Janine.” They are worried
about that!!!
I don’t remember seeing
so many unbelievable bills in past years. It
appears as if they have no awareness of our Constitutional rights.
SB 140: Defines
every citizen as a lobbyist: A lobbyist is “a person who communicates directly
with a candidate…on behalf of someone other than himself to influence a decision
whether or not any compensation is received.” Have
you as a citizen every communicated directly with a candidate? If so, you are now a lobbyist! .” And it makes your family a special interest group by
definition. It defines a special interest group as “A group of persons, whether or not
formally organized, acting in concert to influence a decision; and a person who represents
such a group of persons. So, if you have ever spoken to a candidate about an issue that
concerns you, you and your family, friends, and neighbors are now officially a special
interest group!!! Thankfully, after testimony from Lynn, John and myself and some real
concerns expressed by Senators Raggio, Beers and Mathews, I don’t think the bill is
going anywhere. Do you think they ever read
the Nevada Constitutions that says. “Every citizen may freely speak, write and
publish his sentiments on all subjects being responsible for the abuse of that rights; and
no law shall be passed to restrain or
abridge the liberty of speech…”
AB 43: “Rights for Foster Children” may
be the most dangerous and outrageous bill this session.
We think this is a precursor for a “Child’s Bill of Rights’ for all children. After I read this bill I said to myself, “Who in the world would be willing to be a
foster parent under these conditions?” Perhaps
the answer to that is only people who are in it for the money, for indeed the bill’s
logical conclusion is that it denies a foster parent the right to be a parent, to guide,
direct, limit, and discipline a child. What
if you as a foster parent not only have foster children, but your own children in your
home? Would you be forced to have two sets of
rules, creating resentment from your own children, because the foster children under this
bill essentially have no rules? Shall we do
away with parents and just have “physical need” providers? What parent who really cares about a child would
have a home with unlimited freedom for a child? Detailed
analysis on our website www.nevadafamilies.org
or call & we will fax or mail it to you.
· Please leave a message for all members of the
Assembly Health and Human Services Committee to
oppose AB 43.
AB 62 Drivers Licenses for Foreign Students: At
this time of increased concern for “homeland security”, AB 62 seems out of step.
It removes reasonable safeguards from Nevada’s driver’s license law regarding
international students, instructors, researchers, and their spouses and dependents.
All 19 of the 9/11 terrorists entered
the United States with valid tourist, business or student visas. They boarded planes that fateful morning with
driver’s licenses from several different states.
On 9/11 some of the highjackers visas had expired; in other words, they were
violating our laws and were here illegally.
The problem with AB 62 is that it does
not tie the expiration date of any
driver’s license issued to an international student, instructor, researcher, etc.,
with the expiration date of that person’s visa.
Linking the expiration date of the driver’s license with the expiration
date of the visa is not only reasonable, but important for the security of the citizens of
our state and nation. AB 62 would allow driver’s licenses to be
extended indefinitely. This flies in the face of reasonable security measures
to protect our citizens. I also does not identify them as foreigners.
It is important to realize that a
driver’s license is not merely a license to drive a car, it is the key to the
kingdom. It gives the person who carries it a
passport to board a plane, get a job, rent an apartment or a car, open a bank account,
enter a federal building, sign up for social services, travel back and forth across our
borders with Mexico and Canada, buy a gun, and even register to vote.
· At this time no action has been taken
by the Assembly Transportation Committee. Call and tell them to amend the bill and require
foreigner’s drivers licenses to expire at the same time as their visa and to note on
the license that they are not American Citizens.
AB 119: Requires non-profit charitable corporations,
including churches to register with the Secretary of State.
The bill as written is an outrageous violation of the First Amendment “...make no law respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Secretary of State’s
office wants to require a fee to register as well. This
bill hurts all non-profit charitable organizations especially small ones, which will be
forced to use their limited resources to provide financial statements to the state
government and possibly to pay a fee. The
octopus of big government will strangle anything that’s’ good if we don’t
stop it. Already, there is lots of opposition
to this bill. PTA’s, Boy Scout Troops,
etc would all have to register and file reports. The
sponsors purpose is to catch illegitimate charities that are taking advantage of people. But, this bill does not do what he wants it to do. Only, real honest charities are going to register. Questionable ones won’t.
· Please contact the sponsor Assemblyman
David Parks and ask him to find a different way to stop phony charities and not require
non-profits to register. dparks@asm.state.nv.us Contact the Assembly Judiciary Committee and ask
them to Vote AB 119.
SJR 11: Takes away the people’s right to vote
for all 13 members of the Board of Regents and instead allows the Governor to appoint
6 of 9 members while the people will only vote for 3 members. The bill lowers the number of Regents from 13 to
9. Un-elected appointees are not responsive
to the people. They just don’t care what
you think. We don’t want
big-government/tax increase Governor’s like Guinn appointing anybody else. The people should retain their right to vote on
the Board of Regents.
The argument for appointing people is that we need Regents with certain kinds of expertise. Guess What! They will be educrats/bureaucrats not interested in the will of the people. The sponsor of AJR 11 is Assemblywoman Guinchigliani who used to work for the Teachers Union, was a teacher and worked for the University and Community College system.
AJR 11 already passed the 2003
Legislature. Because it is a Constitutional
Amendment, it has to pass this Legislature and then it will go on the ballot in 2006.
· It is currently still pending in the
Assembly Elections, Procedures & Ethics/Constitutional Amendments Committee. Call and leave a message for the entire Committee
and ask them to Vote No on AJR11.
AJR 13: Would limit Special Sessions to 20 days &
allow the Legislature to call for a Special Session.
This Resolution proposes a Constitutional Amendment. It already passed the 2003 session and will most likely pass this one and then go on the ballot. Currently, only the Governor can call a special session. We saw what power the Governor wielded alone in 2003 when he specified the agenda and called the special session on raising the taxes. Allowing the Legislature to call for a special session will improve checks and balances and separation of powers. AJR 13 Continued: Only 16 states currently don’t allow the Legislature to call a special session. The resolution requires that 2/3rds of both houses to sign a petition specifying the business for the special session. I think this is a very high standard and only in an emergency or unusual situation would a session ever be called.
· This resolution is still pending in
the Assembly Elections, Procedures & Ethics/Constitutional Amendments Committee. Call and leave a message asking them to Vote Yes
on AJR 13.
AB 134: Prohibits schools from requiring students to
take Ritalin or other psychotropic drugs. This
is an excellent bill, whose primary sponsor is Assemblyman Sharron Angle. Requiring or pressuring parents to give their
children Ritalin and other dangerous prescription psychotropic drugs has become a major
problem in our schools. In 1999 the Colorado
State School Board passed a resolution opposing the use of Ritalin. Their resolution said, “there are documented incidences of
highly negative consequences in which psychiatric prescription drugs have been utilized
for what are essentially problems of discipline which may be related to lack of academic
success…” In addition Ritalin has cause the death of some children. It predisposes children to reliance on drugs and
drug addition.
· This excellent bill has not had a
hearing. Please contact the Assembly Education Committee Chairman Bonnie Parnell from
Carson City and ask her to hold a hearing on AB 134. bparnell@asm.state.nv.us
AJR 2: proposes to amend Nevada Constitution to
authorize the Legislature to provide for statewide lottery to provide money for
textbooks, classroom supplies, and class size reduction. Lotteries in other states have
not improved education funding or educational performance.
How many more families and particularly children will be harmed when more
parents become addicted to gambling via the lottery. The majority of people participating
in lotteries are those who can least afford it. Players with household incomes under
$10,000 bet nearly three times as much as those with incomes over $50,00. Education reform
is what we need, including real instruction in systematic intensive phonics, basic math,
and school choice. These basic reforms will
provide much more real educational improvement in our government schools than any amount
of lottery money.
· AJR 2 already passed the Assembly. Please thank those with the courage to vote No.
Assemblyman Allen, Angle, Carpenter, Christensen, Gansert, Goicoechea, Grady, Hardy,
Mabey, Marvel, Seale, Sibley, Weber. It now moves to the Senate.
The “so called” Equal Rights Amendment is
back! The genesis of Nevada Eagle Forum
comes from fighting the ERA in the early ‘1970’s.
It was finally defeated in Nevada in 1978 by a 68% vote of the people.
Nationally, ERA never got the required 38 states. Nevada
was a key state in stopping ERA. Now Assemblyman Kathy McClain has Bill Draft Request
1381, which urges Congress to take appropriate action
to allow the States to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States
Constitution. Of course, ERA will create a Constitutional right to abortion and same-sex
marriage, and require the drafting of girls. Bad feminist ideas never die they just get
recycled.
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EMAIL OR FAX ALERTS!
info@nevadafamilies.org 775-356-9055
You can find out who your own
Assemblyman or Senator is by going to:
http://mapserve.leg.state.nv.us/website/lcb/viewer.htm
Names and Email Addresses for all
Nevada State Senators:
Mark Amodei mamodei@sen.state.nv.us; Bob Beers bbeers@sen.state.nv.us; Terry Care tcare@sen.state.nv.us:
Maggie Carlton mcarlton@sen.state.nv.us; Barbara Cegavske bcegavske@sen.state.nv.us;
Bob Coffin bcoffin@sen.state.nv.us: Warren Hardy whardy@sen.state.nv.us; Joe Heck jheck@sen.state.nv.us; Steven Horsford shorsford@sen.state.nv.us; John Lee jlee@sen.state.nv.us;
Bernice Mathews bmathews@sen.state.nv.us; Mike McGinness mmcginness@sen.state.nv.us;
Dennis Nolan dnolan@sen.state.nv.us; William Raggio wraggio@sen.state.nv.us;
Dean Rhoads drhoads@sen.state.nv.us; Mike Schneider mschneider@sen.state.nv.us;
Sandra Tiffany
stiffany@sen.state.nv.us; Dina Titus dtitus@sen.state.nv.us;
Randolph Townsend rtownsend@sen.state.nv.us; Maurice Washington mwashington@sen.state.nv.us;
Valerie Wiener vwiener@sen.state.nv.us
Names and Email Addresses for all
Nevada Assemblymen:
Francis Allen fallen@asm.state.nv.us; Bernie Anderson banderson@asm.state.nv.us;
Sharron Angle sangle@asm.state.nv.us; Morse Arberry marberry@asm.state.nv.us;
Kelvin Atkinson katkinson@asm.state.nv.us; Barbara Buckley bbuckley@asm.state.nv.us;
John Carpenter jcarpenter@asm.state.nv.us; Chad Christensen cchristensen@asm.state.nv.us;
Jerry Claborn jclaborn@asm.state.nv.us; Marcus Conklin mconklin@asm.state.nv.us;
Mo Denis mdenis@asm.state.nv.us; Heidi Gansert hgansert@asm.state.nv.us;
Susan Gerhardt sgerhardt@asm.state.nv.us; Chris Giunchiliani cgiunchigliani@asm.state.nv.us;
Pete Goicoechea pgoicoechea@asm.state.nv.usTom Grady tgrady@asm.state.nv.us;
Joe Hardy jhardy@asm.state.nv.us; Lynn Hettrick lhettrick@asm.state.nv.us;
Joseph Hogan jhogan@asm.state.nv.us; Brooks Holcomb bholcomb@asm.state.nv.us;
William Horne whorne@asm.state.nv.us; Marilyn Kirkpatrick mkirkpatrick@asm.state.nv.us;
Ellen Koivisto ekoivisto@asm.state.nv.us Sheila Leslie sleslie@asm.state.nv.us
Garn Mabey gmabey@asm.state.nv.us; Mark Manendo mmanendo@asm.state.nv.us;
John Marvel jmarvel@asm.state.nv.us; Kathy McClain kmcclain@asm.state.nv.us
Bob McCleary bmccleary@asm.state.nv.us; Harry Mortenson hmortenson@asm.state.nv.us
Harvey Munford hmunford@asm.state.nv.us; John Oceguera joceguera@asm.state.nv.us;
Genie Ohrenschall gohrenschall@asm.state.nv.us; David Parks dparks@asm.state.nv.us;
Bonnie Parnell bparnell@asm.state.nv.us; Richard Perkins rperkins@asm.state.nv.us;
Peggie Pierce rperkins@asm.state.nv.us; Bob Seale bseale@asm.state.nv.us;
Rod Sherer rsherer@asm.state.nv.us; Scott Sibley ssibley@asm.state.nv.us;
Debbie Smith dsmith@asm.state.nv.us; Valerie Weber vweber@asm.state.nv.us;
Nevada Families/Eagle Forum
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