Posted At Review Journal

By: Ed Vogel

CARSON CITY -- A bill to help Nevadans buy lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada is expected to win final approval today.

A Senate-Assembly conference committee reached an agreement Saturday to remove a Senate-backed amendment that would have required federal approval of the plan.

Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, contended that the amendment would kill the bill because the federal government opposes importing Canadian drugs and will never give its consent.

With that amendment out, the entire Assembly quickly backed the final version of Assembly Bill 195 on a voice vote.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, expects the Senate to give its overwhelming support this morning. With the 2005 Legislature scheduled to adjourn Monday night, legislators are working through the weekend.

Eight states have bucked a federal law that prevents states from importing prescription drugs from Canada. They contend that a loophole in the law allows individuals to buy three-month supplies of drugs from Canada. The Federal Drug Administration has raised complaints about the purchases but has not prosecuted anyone.

Under the Nevada bill, representatives from the state Board of Pharmacy would go to Canada and license pharmacies that meet state standards. The Office of Consumer Health Assistance would create a Web site to tell people how to buy drugs from the approved pharmacies. The state itself would not buy any drugs.

Buckley said the bill allows Nevadans to secure "FDA-approved drugs at one-third of the price" charged in the United States.

Townsend called the FDA's position against drug importation "muddled at best."

"If it is such a concern, why haven't they taken a definite stance on it?" he asked. "If you live in a border state, you can drive across the border in a morning, buy a three-month supply and drive back in the afternoon. Not everybody can drive to Canada. It's an Internet world today, and we should do it."

Earlier Saturday, legislators gave up trying to reach a compromise on a bill to raise the minimum wage, now $5.15 per hour, by $1 or $1.25 per hour.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she would rather see Assembly Bill 87 die than go along with the Senate amendments.

Although the bill has been killed, voters in the November 2006 election still can raise the minimum wage by $1 per hour by passing Question 6.

Townsend had amended the bill, introduced by Giunchigliani, to raise the minimum wage by $1.25 per hour. Her version of the bill was designed to mirror Question 6 but put the $1 per hour increase in effect in October.

Like the ballot question, Giunchigliani's bill included a provision that the minimum wage would automatically increase each year by the rate of inflation as reflected in the Consumer Price Index. Townsend's Senate-approved version did not include the inflation factor.

"We didn't want the CPI," said Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas. "When you have automatic increases, it doesn't take into consideration what is happening in the economy, in the world."

Said Giunchigliani: "Let's just let it go to the will of the voters."