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MINDEN - Veteran assemblyman Lynn Hettrick says he knows what the issues are and how to take care of them.
The Nevada Assembly minority leader says he has a plan for Nevada and, if he ends up in the majority, he promises he and other Republican Assembly candidates will address seven issues affecting Nevada's taxpayers.
Hettrick, 60, a 32-year resident of Gardnerville, was first elected to Assembly District 39 in 1992.
If he is elected for a seventh term, he vows to pass legislation that will: assure no new taxes; cap property taxes; make water the highest priority for funding; audit education; limit government growth; reform medical malpractice and help keep housing affordable.
Hettrick says property taxes and water are Nevada's biggest issues.
"It's getting to the point that people are being literally driven out of their homes, especially retirees," he said. "We've made a pledge to cap property taxes."
Water rights and usage, according to Hettrick, in the past have been left to the various municipalities and the state water engineer. The state itself has not been involved, and it should be, he said.
From what Hettrick calls the "huge tax increase" voted in during the 2003 legislative session, there is a $150-200 million surplus he would use to "buy back water usage," he said.
He proposes to take $10 million and do a statewide audit of water inventory.
"We should make sure the rural communities are provided for," he said.
"Only if water is left over, then we should send it somewhere else. Right now we have nothing to base the plan on."
Hettrick would like to buy back about 24,000 acre-feet of water usage in Clark County and establish a trust fund to acquire and/or treat water in Washoe County.
Last year he was one of 14 Assembly members who held out and tried to separate tax increases from education funding issues. Republicans, he said, didn't agree to the initial proposal for a $1 billion increase, and because of their objections the increase was lowered to $836 million, which resulted in the recent surplus. This year he supports no new taxes.
He wants to cap lawyer's fees and punitive damages to keep doctors in Carson Valley. He said it would result in lower insurance premiums because of the lowered risk.
Hettrick also says he wants to amend the constitution to restore the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes. He also wants to require a two-thirds vote to override the spending limitation.
He was named the outstanding freshman legislator in his first term, served as the co-speaker in his second term and as the minority leader for the last eight years. He was the past chair, and in September became the national chair of the Council of State Governments.
Hettrick, a private investment manager, and his wife, Arla have four grown children and eight grandchildren. His hobbies include golfing, hunting, camping and autocross.
More information is available on his Web site, lhettrick.com
Randy Green
Randy Green, 53, an Independent, said his unhappiness with dissension in the Nevada Legislature pushed him into running for Assembly District 39.
Green said he has attended sessions during which Republicans and Democrats have "engaged in combat," and fears it's a distraction.
"My main reason for deciding to run is that I was unhappy with the last two legislative sessions and the political climate that emerged during those sessions," said Green.
"I felt they were allowing politics to create a rivalry between the two parties. It seems that the differences have become contentious and that it has spilled over into the session."
In his 28th year of teaching at Douglas High School, Green, a government and economics instructor, has ideas about improving education.
In his own experience, working on school district accountability standards for eight years, he said he has witnessed flaws in the federal mandate for schools, No Child Left Behind.
"It was initially accepted because it held everyone accountable," Green said. But at the same time you have a federal mandate to accommodate students with disabilities. With this in mind, you have to know that some people aren't going to reach those standards.
"I never had a problem trying to make education more effective. There are now measurements in place that don't have anything to do with learning, and learning is our priority."
Green has run for a political office only once before, in 2000, for a seat on the Douglas County School Board, and beat the incumbent by a 2 to 1 margin.
But the district wouldn't let him continue to run for the school board when Douglas District Judge Michael Gibbons ruled that Green's teaching status was a conflict of interest. Green didn't fight the decision. Now he has decided to try politics again.
"In the aftermath of the school board race I was approached by board members to run for the legislature," he said.
Green, who has raised two daughters with his wife, Karen, who is a teacher at Carson Valley Middle School, doesn't support a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain.
He thinks a national nuclear dumping ground at the Yucca site is inevitable since the government claims Nevada is the only viable site; however, Green would like to see the state receive some compensation for allowing it.
"My question is, 'What, if anything, are we going to receive for having this nuclear repository here?'"
Green, who rides his bicycle to work at all times of the year, believes transportation is another major problem that will only worsen with time.
"We're spending about $360 million on six or seven projects in Northern Nevada. When those projects are complete, we'll still have an ineffective system to suit the population we have," he said. "We have to make a serious move to build an infrastructure to meet population expectations."
Green would also like to see the government crack down on residents who are either not registering and/or not insuring their cars in the state.
"This happens because we're such a high mobility state," he said. "It's hard to track people and make sure that revenue stream goes where it's supposed to go."
The lack of water is the most obvious battle everyone is faced with, according to Green, who knows it will be a priority at the next session.
Green has been eyeing the growing number of prisoners within the state, and says there has been a 9 percent increase in crime in the last year.
"Our prison facilities are full," he said. "We're going to have to build more prison facilities. We don't have an option if we choose safety as our priority."
Besides the time he spends visiting family and doing outdoor activities such as cycling and hiking, Green admits he doesn't spend much time outside the high school.
There he not only teaches, but coaches and heads graduation activities such as Douglas High's annual alcohol and drug free Grad Night.
"Teaching today requires you to spend a lot of time at the school," he said. "Those kinds of things become your hobbies."
The Nevada Assembly minority leader says he has a plan for Nevada and, if he ends up in the majority, he promises he and other Republican Assembly candidates will address seven issues affecting Nevada's taxpayers.
Hettrick, 60, a 32-year resident of Gardnerville, was first elected to Assembly District 39 in 1992.
If he is elected for a seventh term, he vows to pass legislation that will: assure no new taxes; cap property taxes; make water the highest priority for funding; audit education; limit government growth; reform medical malpractice and help keep housing affordable.
Hettrick says property taxes and water are Nevada's biggest issues.
"It's getting to the point that people are being literally driven out of their homes, especially retirees," he said. "We've made a pledge to cap property taxes."
Water rights and usage, according to Hettrick, in the past have been left to the various municipalities and the state water engineer. The state itself has not been involved, and it should be, he said.
From what Hettrick calls the "huge tax increase" voted in during the 2003 legislative session, there is a $150-200 million surplus he would use to "buy back water usage," he said.
He proposes to take $10 million and do a statewide audit of water inventory.
"We should make sure the rural communities are provided for," he said.
"Only if water is left over, then we should send it somewhere else. Right now we have nothing to base the plan on."
Hettrick would like to buy back about 24,000 acre-feet of water usage in Clark County and establish a trust fund to acquire and/or treat water in Washoe County.
Last year he was one of 14 Assembly members who held out and tried to separate tax increases from education funding issues. Republicans, he said, didn't agree to the initial proposal for a $1 billion increase, and because of their objections the increase was lowered to $836 million, which resulted in the recent surplus. This year he supports no new taxes.
He wants to cap lawyer's fees and punitive damages to keep doctors in Carson Valley. He said it would result in lower insurance premiums because of the lowered risk.
Hettrick also says he wants to amend the constitution to restore the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes. He also wants to require a two-thirds vote to override the spending limitation.
He was named the outstanding freshman legislator in his first term, served as the co-speaker in his second term and as the minority leader for the last eight years. He was the past chair, and in September became the national chair of the Council of State Governments.
Hettrick, a private investment manager, and his wife, Arla have four grown children and eight grandchildren. His hobbies include golfing, hunting, camping and autocross.
More information is available on his Web site, lhettrick.com
Randy Green
Randy Green, 53, an Independent, said his unhappiness with dissension in the Nevada Legislature pushed him into running for Assembly District 39.
Green said he has attended sessions during which Republicans and Democrats have "engaged in combat," and fears it's a distraction.
"My main reason for deciding to run is that I was unhappy with the last two legislative sessions and the political climate that emerged during those sessions," said Green.
"I felt they were allowing politics to create a rivalry between the two parties. It seems that the differences have become contentious and that it has spilled over into the session."
In his 28th year of teaching at Douglas High School, Green, a government and economics instructor, has ideas about improving education.
In his own experience, working on school district accountability standards for eight years, he said he has witnessed flaws in the federal mandate for schools, No Child Left Behind.
"It was initially accepted because it held everyone accountable," Green said. But at the same time you have a federal mandate to accommodate students with disabilities. With this in mind, you have to know that some people aren't going to reach those standards.
"I never had a problem trying to make education more effective. There are now measurements in place that don't have anything to do with learning, and learning is our priority."
Green has run for a political office only once before, in 2000, for a seat on the Douglas County School Board, and beat the incumbent by a 2 to 1 margin.
But the district wouldn't let him continue to run for the school board when Douglas District Judge Michael Gibbons ruled that Green's teaching status was a conflict of interest. Green didn't fight the decision. Now he has decided to try politics again.
"In the aftermath of the school board race I was approached by board members to run for the legislature," he said.
Green, who has raised two daughters with his wife, Karen, who is a teacher at Carson Valley Middle School, doesn't support a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain.
He thinks a national nuclear dumping ground at the Yucca site is inevitable since the government claims Nevada is the only viable site; however, Green would like to see the state receive some compensation for allowing it.
"My question is, 'What, if anything, are we going to receive for having this nuclear repository here?'"
Green, who rides his bicycle to work at all times of the year, believes transportation is another major problem that will only worsen with time.
"We're spending about $360 million on six or seven projects in Northern Nevada. When those projects are complete, we'll still have an ineffective system to suit the population we have," he said. "We have to make a serious move to build an infrastructure to meet population expectations."
Green would also like to see the government crack down on residents who are either not registering and/or not insuring their cars in the state.
"This happens because we're such a high mobility state," he said. "It's hard to track people and make sure that revenue stream goes where it's supposed to go."
The lack of water is the most obvious battle everyone is faced with, according to Green, who knows it will be a priority at the next session.
Green has been eyeing the growing number of prisoners within the state, and says there has been a 9 percent increase in crime in the last year.
"Our prison facilities are full," he said. "We're going to have to build more prison facilities. We don't have an option if we choose safety as our priority."
Besides the time he spends visiting family and doing outdoor activities such as cycling and hiking, Green admits he doesn't spend much time outside the high school.
There he not only teaches, but coaches and heads graduation activities such as Douglas High's annual alcohol and drug free Grad Night.
"Teaching today requires you to spend a lot of time at the school," he said. "Those kinds of things become your hobbies."
