Parnell files for fifth term in Assembly

Carson City Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell filed Tuesday for her fifth term representing District 40.

“We don’t know what we’re going to be facing in the ‘09 session,” she said.
She said the first situation they could face is that the state’s tough economic times remain that way, leaving the governor and lawmakers to further cut spending.

“On the other hand, if we have an upturn, I’d like to restore some of the funding — especially direct funding for education,” she said.

She pointed to the $4 million approved in 2007 for career and technical education which was pulled back as part of the governor’s budget reductions.

Parnell said she doesn’t want to raise taxes because “it’s difficult for people to survive on what they have now.”

She said she intends to look at changes that can possibly improve education and other services without costing a lot of new money. One idea, she said, is to expand the high school reform she pushed through as chairman of the Assembly Education Committee in 2007 to include middle schools, which includes expanding access to counseling and preparing academic plans for students.

She said she supports the ballot question in Carson City that would increase property taxes to improve public safety. She said she was surprised when she polled students at Carson Middle School and discovered that public safety was the top concern of eighth-graders.

She said those concerns are shared among adults as well.

“I want to know if I have a medical emergency there’s an ambulance available,” she said. “If somebody breaks into my house, that there’s a sheriff’s deputy to respond.”
Parnell, 61, said she takes pride in providing help to her constituents. Since she retired from teaching, she said, “I’m pretty much a full-time legislator.”

“I spend almost all my time out of session working on constituent issues,” she said.

Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.