Assembly passes bill requiring bank employees to spot abuse of elderly

Lawmakers passed nearly 40 bills on Thursday, including one in the Assembly that would require banks to train employees to spot elder abuse.

Legislators also passed measures dealing with death sentences, water conservation, city annexation procedures, public employee benefits, mail-in ballots and cervical cancer vaccine.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, sponsored the elder abuse bill, AB87, which was amended after banks protested it could make criminals of tellers.

The bill, now moving to the Senate for final action, requires a training course for tellers, and mandates that banks appoint a manager to review suspected cases of abuse. Civil penalties are imposed if suspected abuse is not reported.

Leslie said the bill is particularly important given the sentencing last week of a Sparks man who depleted $250,000 from a 91-year-old woman's life savings. Authorities were alerted by a bank teller who noticed Lee Mack was cashing checks by the woman.

Also Thursday, the Senate voted for AB192, an Assembly-approved measure that spells out the governor's authority to stay a death sentence. The bill now goes to Gov. Jim Gibbons for his signature.

AB192 cites wording in the Nevada Constitution which says the governor has the power to grant reprieves "for all cases, except in cases of impeachment."

On a party-line vote, the Assembly voted 27-15 for a measure that would require water suppliers to come up with a plan showing how their rates will affect water conservation.

Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, who sponsored AB331, said he was disappointed that all the Republicans in the Assembly opposed the measure.

Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, said "things were going so fast" in the rush to pass bills by a Tuesday deadline, and there wouldn't have been so many "no" votes if legislators had realized that an amendment had erased earlier concerns about the measure.

"Clearly there were three or four of us ... that shouldn't have voted no against it. Our notes reflected we were still a 'no' vote on it and that wasn't the case," he said.

The upcoming procedural deadline requires that Assembly measures be voted upon by the full Assembly and Senate measures be voted upon by the full Senate by Tuesday - or go into the wastebasket.

Besides the death penalty measure, the Senate passed SB409, which would force insurance companies to cover costs of a new cervical cancer vaccine.

The Assembly also passed:

• AB50, which restricts the release of a police officer's address if he has been arrested.

• AB160, which allows property owners to protest a proposed annexation into a city if they live within 750 feet of the area to be annexed.

• AB322, which requires greater disclosure of contributors to ballot initiatives, and says any changes to language will void signatures on the original petition.

• AB301, which changes the qualifications needed to run for county sheriff to include some police experience.

• AB342, allowing people to deliver mail-in ballots in person on election day in certain cases.

• AB319, which says retirement benefits for certain public employees will not be increased without adequate funding.