Insurance Rollback Petition Qualifies

FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT, MARIJUANA INITIATIVES LACK VOTER SIGNATURES

CARSON CITY -- A petition to let Nevadans decide whether to reduce
auto and homeowner insurance rates by 20 percent has qualified for
inclusion on the November ballot, Secretary of State Dean Heller said
Tuesday.

But Heller said a petition to let voters legalize an ounce of
marijuana and one to throw out frivolous lawsuits failed to secure
enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

The secretary of state said checks of signatures by voting registrars
and county clerks showed the petition to legalize marijuana received
34,947 valid signatures, far below the minimum number of 51,337. The
petition to throw out frivolous lawsuits received 49,952 signatures,
which was 1,485 short of the required total.

But Heller said a third petition that would let voters reduce
insurance rates received 52,981 valid signatures and has qualified for
inclusion on the election ballots.

That petition also contains controversial language supported by some
trial lawyers that would raise a $350,000 limit that patients now can
receive for pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Lobbyists for doctors have declared voters were duped into signing the
petition under the mistaken impression they could reduce insurance
rates when the real intention of the proposal was to remove the
medical liability limit.

The state Legislature in 1989 passed a law ordering a 15 percent cut
in insurance rates. A year later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled that proposal was unconstitutional because it denied insurance
companies a reasonable chance to make a profit.

Earlier this year, a state Insurance Division actuary said he doubted
any Nevada insurance company makes a 20 percent profit.

Under language in the petition, however, even if the insurance rate
reduction is found unconstitutional, the medical liability proposal
would remain intact.

In a special session two years ago, the Legislature approved the
$350,000 limit on pain and suffering damage, but allowed exceptions in
some cases. This November, voters also will cast ballots on the Keep
Our Doctors in Nevada' initiative petition that would remove any
exceptions to the $350,000 limit.

But the insurance rate reduction-medical liability petition is a
proposed constitutional amendment that needs voter approval this
November and again in 2006. An affirmative vote on the petition in
2006 would supercede an affirmative vote on the doctors' petition this
November.

Despite Heller's declaration their petition drives have fallen short,
leaders of the Committee to Control and Regulate Marijuana and People
for a Better Nevada were not conceding defeat Tuesday.

"I still think we have a chance of getting this on the ballot," said
Jennifer Knight, spokeswoman for the marijuana committee. "It is
obvious we still have to jump through more hoops than we intended."

Knight said their next step may depend on the decision District Judge
William Maddox makes after a Tuesday hearing in Carson City.

Maddox will decide whether thousands of disqualified signatures should
be counted. On advice from Attorney General Brian Sandoval, Heller
discounted many signatures because petition circulators did not secure
proper affidavits.

Heller did not count 19,830 signatures on the marijuana petition
because of the affidavit problem, but he declared Tuesday that
petition would not have qualified even if those signatures were counted.

He also discounted 9,735 signatures on the frivolous lawsuit petition
and 9,136 on the insurance rate rollback petition because of the
affidavit question.

"I look forward to the court's assistance in determining if these
signatures should be counted," Heller said. "As I have previously
stated, people signed these petitions in good faith; but,
unfortunately, due to the fact petitioners did not follow the
prescribed constitutional requirements, clerks and registrars had to
disqualify thousands of signatures."

Maddox has been asked by the AFL-CIO to make a ruling on signatures
for its petition to raise the minimum wage by $1 an hour, but Knight
said the decision also will affect signatures on the other petitions.

Heller earlier rejected the minimum wage petition, refusing to count
13,994 signatures because of affidavit questions.

Carmen Cashman of People for a Better Nevada also contends the
frivolous lawsuit petition ultimately will qualify for the ballot.

"It is pretty hard for us to do anything until the judge (Maddox)
decides," she said. "But we are looking at our options."