Legislators to try again on rejected bills

CARSON CITY, Nev. - If many of the bills that surface in coming months at the 2001 Legislature seem familiar, there's a good reason.

Legislators plan to introduce more than 800 bills that were rejected in the 1999 session, including ones to restrict teen driving and ban the execution of mentally retarded people.

''Some people are trying to bring back things they believe in that they couldn't get through in 1999,'' Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Cagavske is sponsoring the teen-driving bill, which would limit underage passengers and times when teens can be on the road.

The bill was approved by both houses in 1999, but died after Gov. Kenny Guinn returned it to the Legislature.

''When you look at other states that have created a graduated licensing program, you see the number of teen deaths in vehicle accidents decreasing,'' Cegavske said.

Children are the target of another bill to be introduced by Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno.

Her measure mandating a five-step reading program based largely on phonics also failed in 1999. Angle cited Nevada students' poor reading scores as the reason she's not giving up.

''Our children still don't know how to read,'' she said. ''This taps into the scientific research that shows any child can learn to read. It's not phonics only, it's phonics first.''

Other previously-rejected bills will be introduced by:

- Assemblywoman Chris Guinchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who wants to make simple marijuana possession a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

- Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who seeks to ban the execution of mentally retarded people.

- Assemblyman Dennis Nolan, D-Las Vegas, who proposes to restrict the use of laser pointers in public places.

- Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, who wants to lower the legal standard for drunkenness from .10 to .08. His bill's chances of passages improved when Congress mandated the lower level. States risk losing federal highway funding if they don't adopt it.