Richard Perkins (born in 1961 in Boulder City, Nevada) is an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the Nevada Assembly from 1992 to 2006 representing District 23, covering parts of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

). Perkins served as floor leader from 1995 to 2001 and as Speaker of the Assembly from 2001 to 2006.

Biography

Perkins obtained a BA in criminal justice and political science from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was a police officer with the

Police Department for approximately 25 years, eventually retiring as chief of the department in 2008. The most significant event during Perkins' tenure in the Legislature was the budget dispute of 2003. Nevada's tax structure has traditionally been heavily dependent on sales and gaming taxes. After

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, tourism was sharply reduced, which caused a substantial hole in the state budget. Republican Governor Kenny Guinn proposed a $980 million increase in revenue to fill this hole. However, while the Legislature was able to pass the Governor's budget with a simple majority, anti-tax Republicans in the Assembly refused to vote for it and so the budget was denied a 2/3 majority. This provoked a constitutional crisis, since Nevada's Constitution requires a 2/3 majority for revenue-generating bills and also requires that K-12 education be funded. Guinn called two special sessions of the Legislature, neither of which was able to pass an education budget with the required majority. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of Nevada was required to rule on the crisis, and held that the education funding requirement took precedence over the 2/3 majority requirement. During his tenure, Perkins was a primary sponsor on a number of high-profile bills. These included: Assembly Bill 220 (1999), establishing

Nevada State College Nevada State College (NSC) is a public college in Henderson, Nevada. It is part of the Nevada System of Higher Education and opened on September 3, 2002, as Nevada's first state college. Its main campus is located on a site in the southern foo ...

in Henderson; Assembly Bill 27 (2001), which prohibited the placement of juveniles performing community service along a highway or at another dangerous location; Assembly Bill 250 (2003) and Assembly Bill 441 (2003), which created Nevada's homeland security laws governing acts of terrorism and related emergencies; and Assembly Bill 322 (2003), which created a statewide alert system for the safe return of abducted children. Perkins considered running in the

2006 Nevada gubernatorial election The 2006 Nevada gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Governor Kenny Guinn could not run due to term limits. Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons defeated Democratic State Senator Dina Titus. As of 2022, this is the most r ...

but ultimately decided not to. After retiring as a legislator, Perkins opened his own lobbying firm, counting clients such as

Newmont Mining Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

and the city of Henderson.

Elections

*2004 Perkins was unopposed in the primary, and won the general election with 9,618 votes (58.48%) against Republican nominee Steven Grierson. *2002 Perkins was unopposed in both the primary and the general election. *2000 Perkins was unopposed in the primary, and won the general election with 7,093 votes (62.69%) against Republican nominee Michael Cannon. *1998 Perkins was unopposed in the primary, and won the general election with 5,373 votes (68.28%) against Republican nominee Troy A. La Mana. *1996 Perkins was unopposed in the primary, and won the general election with 5,507 votes (64.81%) against Republican nominee Jim Born. *1994 Perkins was unopposed in both the primary and the general election. *1992 Perkins was unopposed in the primary, and won the general election with 5,508 votes (66.44%) against Republican nominee Allen R. Chastain.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Nevada Legislature The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Richard Living people 1961 births Politicians from the Las Vegas Valley American police chiefs Speakers of the Nevada Assembly Democratic Party members of the Nevada Assembly 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians People from Boulder City, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni