board of examiners 12-08-09 minutes

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MINUTES

MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERSDecember 8, 2009

The Board of Examiners met on December 8, 2009, in the Annex on the second floor of the

Capitol Building, 101 N. Carson St., Carson City, Nevada, at 10:00 a.m. Present were:

Members:

Governor Jim Gibbons

Secretary of State Ross Miller

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto – by phone

Clerk Andrew K. Clinger

Others Present:

Billie Tucker – Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation

Jason Holm – Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Welfare and SupportiveServices

David Miller – Department of Information Technology

Carol Sweeney – Department of Information Technology

Cole Schmidt – Department of Health and Human Services, Health Division

Kyle Devine – Department of Health and Human Services, Health Division

Debra Galloway – Department of Health and Human Services, Health Division

John Kasnick – Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Care Financing

and Policy

Ernest Figueroa – Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Consumer Protection

Laura Smolyansky – Department of Information Technology

Tim Tetz – Veteran’s Services Rossalyn Hoid – Department of Information Technology

Dan Stockwell – Department of Information Technology

Steve Aldinger – Department of Business and Industry

Helene Robinson – Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Consumer Protection

Heather Elliot – Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Commission

Shannon Berry – Department of Administration, Purchasing Division

Dave Olsen – Department of Transportation

Bill Kirby – Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health and

Developmental Services

Jim Spencer – Attorney General’s Office

Katie Armstrong – Attorney General’s Office Sue Hohn – Department of Business and Industry

Rob Martinez – Department of Conservation and Natural Resource, Division of Water Resources

Dennis Perea – Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation

Ardell Galbreth – Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation

Carol Sala – Department of Health and Human Services, Aging and Disability Services

Dave McTeer – Department of Administration

Megan Sloan – Public Employees Benefits Program


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Board of Examiners Meeting

December 8, 2009 - Minutes

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Donna Lopez – Public Employees Benefits Program

Jon Hager – Public Employees Benefits Program

Eric Witkoski – Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Consumer Protection


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*1. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 10, 2009 BOARD OF EXAMINERS’

MEETING MINUTES

Clerk’s Recommendation: I recommend approval.

Motion By: Secretary of State Seconded By: Attorney General Vote: 3-0

Comments:

Governor: The Board of Examiners meeting scheduled for today December 8, 2009, 10:00 a.m.,

will come to order. Will the Clerk please call roll?

Clerk: Governor I would like to note for the record all members are present.

Governor: All right. We have another whole schedule on the agenda today, I do have a prior

commitment if we haven’t finished at eleven o’ clock I am going to ask to take a short recess,

keep my commitment and then we will return to finish this up. Hopefully we will be done bythen. Move on to agenda item number 1, which is the approval of the November 10, 2009 Board

of Examiners’ minutes from that meeting which is in the packets for all members. Any

comments Mr. Clerk?

Clerk: No Governor, thank you.

Governor: Is there a motion for approval?

Secretary of State: So moved.

Attorney General: Second.

Governor: It has been moved and seconded. Any comments or questions with regard to the

motion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Let the record reflect agenda

item number 1 passed unanimously.

*2. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 17, 2009 SPECIAL BOARD OF

EXAMINERS’ MEETING MINUTES



Comments:

Governor: Move to agenda item number 2, which is approval of the November 17, 2009

Special Board of Examiners meeting minutes. Any comments or questions Mr. Clerk?

Clerk: No Governor, thank you.


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Governor: Questions or comments from the Board?

Secretary of State: Move for approval.

Governor: There is a motion for approval.

Attorney General: Second the motion.

Governor: Seconded by the Attorney General. Any comments or questions with regard to the

motion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Let the record reflect agenda

item number 2 passed unanimously.

*3. STATE ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL

The State Administrative Manual (SAM) is being submitted to the Board of Examiners’ for

approval of revisions in the following Chapters: Motor Pool Division – Chapter 1300, Purchasing Division – Chapter 1500, Information Technology – Chapter 1600



Comments:

Governor: Move to agenda item number 3, which is the State Administrative Manual. It is

being submitted to the Board of Examiners’ for approval of revisions in the following chapters:

Motor Pool Division – Chapter 1300, Purchasing Division – Chapter 1500, and Information

Technology – Chapter 1600. Mr. Clerk.

Clerk: Thank you Governor, in the Boards’ packets you will see the various sections tabbed,

within those sections there is a summary of the changes. Under Chapter 1300 which is the Motor

Pool section we received a request from the Supreme Court that automobiles used by District

Court Judges and the Judicial Branch that are the property and maintained by Motor Pool, be

included as an exception for the license plates. Under 1500, this is the Purchasing Division

section, there are four changes there, if you look under the 1500 tab, you will see the highlights

of those changes. Under section 1506 a language was added to address the requirements for

agencies from Senate Bill 395 passed in the 2009 session. Section 1511 makes changes to

language to further clarify the preapproval of agency purchases. Section 1544 adds language to

fine equipment items and finally, section 1552 adds language to specifically identify itemsauthorized or not authorized for the direct purchases by agencies. Under the Chapter 1600 tab,

you will see the various changes that are being requested there, under the Information

Technology section, related to services, tires, hardware and maintenance requirements, we do

have representatives here from the Department of Information Technology if there are questions

on the Information Technology section, I think there may be some questions from the Attorney

General.


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Governor: Questions?

Attorney General: Governor, I have a question with respect to Chapter 1600, for Information

Technology. On page, actually two of the handouts they gave us, there are two new rolls one is a

IT Contract Technical Review and a Purchase Request Review. Are these actual new duties?

Governor: Is there somebody here from Information Technology that can address these

questions?

Rossalyn Hoid: In answer to your question, these are not new to the Department, they just

haven’t been defined as such. We have IT Contract Administration and that unit was actually

transferred under Purchasing Division two Legislative Sessions ago. So this really is just

identifying what remains in our Department, in that we review work programs and contracts that

have an IT component within them and we wanted to let agencies know that we would like to

have if possible seven days to review those. Sometimes we get them immediately and we would

like to have little time to review them and get them turned around.

Attorney General: So can I just ask a hypothetical question? purchase request reviewer is the

person who will be reviewing purchase requests for IT Equipment over a thousand dollars per

purchase. Say that we did not have the money to refresh our hardware technology in our office,

and we go out and purchase that new equipment, before we did so we would have to go to DoIT

and get your approval?

Rossalyn Hoid: Yes, it follows through with the contracts and that component of it would be

looked at by DoIT.

Attorney General: And this is something DoIT already does?

Rossalyn Hoid: Yes, that’s correct.

Attorney General: Okay, thank you.

Governor: Any comments or questions?

Secretary of State: Move to approve.

Governor: There is a motion by the Secretary of State to approve. Is there a second?

Attorney General: I will second.

Governor: Second by the Attorney General. Any comments or questions with regard to the

motion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Let the record reflect that agenda

item number 3 has passed.


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*4. FURLOUGH EXCEPTIONSPursuant to Senate Bill 433, Section 5.2 (a) of the 2009 Legislative Session, the State Board of

Examiners shall determine positions within the Executive Branch of State Government that will

not be subject to furlough leave.

A. Office of the Attorney General – Bureau of Consumer Protection

The Attorney General’s Office requests exceptions for 32.02 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions

budgeted in the Consumer Advocate of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. The Consumer

Advocate of the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) provides professional representation,

public education, and progressive advocacy for the consumers who utilize regulated electricity,

natural gas, water, and telecommunication services. The BCP also serves to protect Nevada

consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices and fraud through criminal and civil

enforcement and provides consumer education and public outreach. The Legislatively Approved

budget funds positions by approximately 55.5% from Regulatory Assessments and 44.5% fromthe General Fund.


Motion By: Secretary of State Seconded By: Governor Vote: 2-0

Comments:

Governor: Move to agenda item number 4 furlough exemptions, A is the Office of the Attorney

General, Bureau of Consumer Protection. Mr. Clerk.

Clerk: Thank you Governor, item A and B are actually related. Under item A these are positions within the Bureau of Consumer Protections, in the Bureau of Consumer Protections

account. Item B is a position under the Administration account; however, it is related to the

Bureau of Consumer Protection as well. In the Board packets you will see under agenda item 4A

and B, there are two tabs there, one for A and one for B, if you turn in three pages on item A you

will see the list of the positions that have been requested with the class code descriptions there,

the number of FTE for each of the different types of positions. The first column there is the

general fund cost, the second column is the regulatory assessment cost, all of these positions are

partly paid from the mill assessment, so there is a mix of general funds, and mill assessment

funding, under tab B, again about three pages in you will see the summary sort of summary for

the Chief Deputy Attorney General position, and you can see the cost for the six months worth of

furlough exemption requests for the Fiscal Year of 2010. Included as well, if you go back to tabA under that first summary sheet is a description for each position that outlines the four criteria

that are required and the answers to those questions for each one of the positions. Again in the

Boards’ packet under Senate Bill 433 Section 5, there are four criteria, I will read those to the

Board, a position is necessary to the protection of public safety, health, or welfare, that is A. B,

the public health, safety, or welfare will be significantly diminished if mandatory furlough leave

is implemented for employees in these positions; C, no alternatives exist to provide for the


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protection of public health, safety, or welfare and finally, D, the agency has identified and

implement other methods to reduce overall cost, equal to the savings produced by furlough leave

under the program, or receive an allocation of funds, that is as set forth in section 8 of this act.

Those are the criteria that this Board has to examine to put on the record, and I will turn it back

over to the Board.

Governor: Let me just say I have looked at some of these and I know that we are rapidly

approaching a very slippery slope here, when we do this. This is for supervising leave of

secretaries, leave of secretaries, administrative assistants, attorney general senior economist,

services officer, regulatory analyst, regulatory managers, engineers, senior investigators, senior

engineers, senior legal researchers, legal researchers, investigators, technical staff managers, and

I believe on tab B, which is the Deputy Attorney General’s for that department. My concern is

that once we start down this, these are very different positions then in the past that we have

looked at for exemptions. I am not clear, and I would like to hear why the welfare for an

administrative assistant of the State of Nevada is critical to the health, safety, and welfare of an

individual that cannot have one day a month to go on administrative leave under the furlough

policy. Now I admit this is the problem we dealt with, that we concerned ourselves with whenthe Legislature decided to enact furloughs rather then reducing salaries. This is one of the

problems that if we start doing this for administrative positions like this rather then safety for a

corrections officer, or highway patrol or something of that nature, we have asked now for

something of every department, and I will compare this to the Health and Human Services

Department which directly deals with the health and welfare of many Nevadans, they are taking

the furlough day. They are doing it with reduced time and reduced staffing, they haven’t asked

for exemptions, but I guarantee you that once we start down this path we will look at an open

door for every department to start saying that their staff directly relates to the welfare of the

public. I am concerned that if we do this we have opened that door and I am the one very

reluctant to vote on something that is going to allow for us to circumvent in totality what is the

intent in these very unprecedented times the prudent measure of reducing budget by allowing forstaff in areas that are important in the operation of the State, but questionable to the overall

welfare of the State of Nevada to employ having that one day furlough per month. That is just

my comments; I open it up for any comments from anyone that wants to address the issue.

Attorney General: Governor, if I may obviously I am abstaining from voting on this matter.

But let me address some of your concerns, I also have Eric Witkoski with me who is the head of

this division. What we are asking for here is just for a six month period from January to the end

of the fiscal year, the furlough exemptions just for general fund is the amount of only eleven

thousand nine hundred dollars. The breadth of this funding comes from mill assessments, the

secretaries, senior deputy, and those twenty something positions. But let me just put this in

perspective while your asking this, I completely understand your concerns. As you know we lead

the nation in the number of foreclosures we have been inundated. Because of the high number of

foreclosures we are seeing an unreasonable amount of scams who are taking advantage of the

people who are loosing their homes and who are actually loosing their jobs as well. To get a

handle on these cases we have 144 cases, loan modifications or foreclosures that we know of that

we are going after. Of those 144 companies there is at least 100 complaints against those

companies.


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Governor: Well I understand your comments there, I know that we are all very concerned about

the impact of the foreclosures; we are also very concerned about fraudulent practices and

exceptive practices that are being forced upon people who are suffering today throughout Nevada

with these foreclosures. My concern is, is that it doesn’t appear to be targeted. In other words,

two issues here, I am not sure how an engineer or a senior engineer cannot take a day off or aneconomist cannot take a day off in impact the operation of this department. I would say that

there are some people here under your scenario that need to look at whether or not they can take

that day off a month, and maybe there is a way to look at alternative methods for cost savings

with those targeted individuals rather then what appears to be all thirty two people in the

department qualifying under the exception for this relief.

Attorney General: Governor if I may, who you are referring to is completely funded by mill

assessments; it is not general fund dollars. So even if he does take a furlough, there is no savings

in the general funds. If I recall we have allowed similar agencies to come before us that were not

100% general funded dollars to seek the exemptions from the furloughs. That is one of the

reasons why we have the engineers and a couple of the other mill assessment positions beforeyou. Whether they take a furlough or not it would have no impact on the general fund dollars.

Governor: I understand that completely. But, whether it’s twelve dollars, twelve thousand,

twelve million, we owe the taxpayers the responsibility to make sure we are doing it

appropriately, secondly we are opening a door now to where each department is going to come

back in and ask for the staffing adjustments for difficult times when the State of Nevada is in an

unprecedented recession in terms of revenue. That’s all I’m asking that’s what my concern is and

I understand your position in it completely. I guess there is nothing more to ask other then are

there any more questions?

Attorney General: I would just like to make a final comment. I appreciate your concerns,however, on behalf of the people of this State particularly unprecedented for Nevada, and the

more foreclosure prices I think that is something that we have to do everything possible to help

the citizens of this State who are loosing their homes, and going into unemployment and

protecting…I agree that we have to save taxpayers dollars but at the same time we are asking for

the minute amount of twelve thousand dollars to help and prevent them from becoming victims.

I can’t imagine a taxpayer who would want to something like that, but with that said I understand

your concerns and the only thing I can do is bring it before the Board of Examiners’ and ask for

the requests on behalf of my office.

Governor: I do understand any other comments or questions?

Secretary of State: I think that the request for exemptions, there is no question in my mind that

these positions fit within the statutory definitions that they require to maintain public welfare. I

understand the Governor’s concerns that this could possibly open up a slippery slope but this

Board just approved prison owner a couple months ago as meeting the definition of being

necessary to public welfare. So to turn around and say that a bunch of positions dealing with

foreclosure and fortified lease times do not meet the definition of public welfare to me it doesn’t


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make a lot of sense. Something I deal with in my agency and we have seen the impact of the

exemptions, and the Director of oversight of criminal investigators gave us the security spot, and

we have had to pass on investigations because we don’t have the resources to go after it. So the

Attorney General has found a solution, as being softer on the general fund in terms of resources

that we need to allocate to go after that problem I think that it is something that we should

support and the public as well.

Governor: What is the pleasure of the Board?

Secretary of State: I understand that the Attorney General is going to abstain, so I will make a

motion to approve the furlough exemptions.

Governor: Is there a second? Then I will second it. There is a motion before the Board for

approval, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Let the record reflect that it passes.

Attorney General: Thank you very much.

Governor: Let the record reflect that was for 4A and 4B.

B. Office of the Attorney General – Administration

The Attorney General’s Office requests exceptions for 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) position

budgeted in the Attorney General’s Administrative Account. According to the request, the Chief

Deputy Attorney General position, under the direction of the Bureau of Consumer Protection

(BCP), manages and provides legal assistance, analysis, and prosecutorial assistance in areas of

deceptive and unfair trade practices and is the head prosecutor for the Attorney General’s

mortgage fraud task force. The position’s salary is paid 100% from the General Fund.


Motion By: Secretary of State Seconded By: Governor Vote:2-0

Comments:

*5. WRITE OFF BAD DEBT NRS 353C.220 allows agencies, with approval of the Board of Examiners, to write off bad debts

deemed uncollectible.

A. Public Employees’ Benefits Program – $11,050.21

Public Employees’ Benefits Program (PEBP) is requesting authority to write off debt that totals

$11,050.21. The reported debt is specifically related to participant health insurance premiums.

Two accounts represent participants that have filed for bankruptcy; six accounts represent

deceased participants, one account is uncollectible, and twenty-eight accounts represent debts

incur red prior to November 2005, past PEBP’s four year statute of limitations for collections

pursuant to NRS 353C.140.


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Comments:

Governor: We move to agenda item number 5 which is the write off of bad debt, we have A, B,and C. Public Employees’ Benefits Program for eleven thousand fifty dollars and twenty one

cents, the Department of Transportation, Division of Administration for four thousand eight

hundred and forty four dollars and seventy five cents, and C the Department of Business and

Industry, Real Estate Division for one million three hundred and ninety two thousand thirty four

dollars and thirty eight cents. Mr. Clerk.

Clerk: Thank you Governor, item A under agenda item number 5 is as you stated for the Public

Employees Benefits Program. The reported debt is specifically related to participant health

insurance premiums. Two accounts represent participants that have filed for bankruptcy; six

accounts represent deceased participants, one account is uncollectible, and twenty-eight accounts

represent debts incurred prior to November 2005, which is past the Boards’ four year statute of

limitations for collections.

Governor: I have a question with regard to the Business and Industry Real Estate Division, is

anyone here from that department? The write off of one million three hundred ninety two

thousand thirty four dollars and thirty eight cents seems a bit odd. The agency though I know

you have exhausted your collection efforts, can you explain the genesis of the million three

ninety two?

Steve Aldinger: I am the Administrator for the Real Estate Division. In these write off

incidents the individuals that held the license issued by the division, either could not pay or choseto walk away from the license and not pay.

Governor: How long have these fines and buildings that have been collecting up over the years

been building up?

Steve Aldinger: Some of these date as far back as 2000.

Governor: For about nine years?

Steve Aldinger: Correct.

Governor: Whatever it is, the Department of Business and Industry or Real Estate Division

taking to avoid having an amount of this size come before the Board in the future?

Steve Aldinger: Prior to 2008, the division had one full time physical staff person and a part

time administrative assistant and of all the divisions payables. This has since been remedied by

the reassignment of staff, there are now three full time individuals working in the fiscal


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especially. The write off results from that period of time when we did not have staff, in the

beginning of the counter year 2009 we have initiated a very impressive collection, obviously, at

the agency level

Governor: Any other questions?

Secretary of State: We always like to appreciate personal information about an individual but I

would request that for privacy issues that social security numbers would be left out of the packets

due to the information being public.

Governor: Mr. Clerk would you make sure that any public information does not contain, in the

future, social security numbers or dates of birth, or restrictive information. Because I do see

social security numbers in here, and I do see dates of birth. Any other comments, questions? Is

there a motion for approval?

Secretary of State: I move.

Attorney General: I will second the motion.

Governor: Moved and seconded. Any comments or questions with regard to the motion?

Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Clerk: Governor just to clarify for the record that was for A, B and C.

Governor: Correct. I assumed that the motion was for the approval of all of them.

Secretary of State: Correct.

B. Department of Transportation – Administration – $4,844.75

The Department of Transportation requests approval of the Board of Examiners to designate as

bad debt the attached list totaling $4,844.75. The Department has exhausted their collection

efforts and has turned these accounts over to the Controller’s Collection staff to further collection

efforts. The bad debt is due to individuals who did not pay storage rent and a business that did

not pay for permits and subsequently went out of business.


Motion By: Secretary of State Seconded By: Attorney General Vote: 3-0Comments:

C. Department of Business and Industry – Real Estate Division

$1,392,034.38


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