Nevada’s legacy embraced individualism and free markets, but under the glitter of no income tax lies a growing burden of bureaucracy. The 300 boards and commissions often are left out of the idyllic brand of the low-tax haven that Nevada is.  

The Rise of Boards and Commissions

Boards and commissions are the government’s bureaucratic “solutions” to industry- or occupation-specific problems or crises that markets or communities face. At its core, Nevada’s extensive collection of these bodies that must provide recommendations to the legislature or oversee occupational licensing has become an arbitrary and self-regulated branch of the government growing in numbers year after year.

A previous solution to the increasing number of this novice branch has been the creation of, yet another, Sunset Subcommittee in the State Legislature in charge of recommending a course of action to take to decrease the number of boards. While the subcommittee has produced interim studies and recommendations on termination of certain task forces and boards, their recommendations have been largely overlooked.  

Red Tape and Real Costs for Workers and Consumers

This inaction comes at a high cost for businessowners, professionals, and the average consumer. Behind every new license, certification, and fee there is usually yet another board with another delay. In 2022, the Institute of Justice described Nevada as “the most widely and onerously licensed state” of the union. 75 out of 102 lower-income occupations in the state require licensure, with average licensure fees of $727 and an average training requirement of 883 calendar days. A hospitable environment for entrepreneurship would ensure smooth entry or transfer into the labor market for all professionals. Nevada, evidently, now fails to do so.  

Reform Meets Resistance

To combat this issue, the 2023 legislative session marked the passage of SB 431 which created the Office of Nevada Boards, Commissions, and Councils Standards under the Department of Business and Industry. The new office had the authority for oversight of financial compliance, board performance, licensing efficiency, staffing practices, coordination of administrative functions, and ahead of the 2025 legislative session published a study with numerous proposed reforms. The 74-page study reviewed 54 occupational and licensing boards and recommended 37 reduced to 19, merging 20 into 6, eliminating 3, and reducing overall appointments from 249 to 148.

These recommendations were translated into SB 78, a measure that faced perhaps the toughest opposition of all the bills introduced by Gov. Lombardo. Boards, commissions, and their lobbyists testified in opposition to this measure which ultimately died in the committee, without receiving any floor votes.

On the other hand, SB 425 was introduced as a competing measure; it would remove the department’s oversight of all the state boards and commissions, in favor of a new office within the Department of Administration. This office’s services would be opt-in for boards and commissions. Just like its rival, SB 425, it did not make it out of the committee, but it was marked by unsurprisingly significant support from the boards and commissions.  

Proposals Left to Die in Committee

There were additional bills aiming to pin a fix that did not get hearings at all.  Assemblywoman Jill Dickman’s AB 182 proposed the creation of a Legislative Committee on the Reduction of Nonessential State Expenditures as a statutory interim committee to evaluate state governmental spending and efficiency.

Assembly Minority Leader Hafen introduced a last-minute bill, AB 601, expanding the authority and responsibilities of the Office of Nevada Boards, Commissions and Councils Standards, allowing the Governor to remove certain executive board staff for misconduct or failure to perform their duties, and centralizes related fee collection and staffing. None of these approaches were considered in hearings or votes.  

Why Real Reform Requires Bipartisan Courage

The 2025 legislative session served as a great lesson both for the policymakers and the voters – to fix this overarching problem Nevada needs a strong policy compromise across the political spectrum. The majority party did not see the boards and commissions as a separate and (poorly) self-sustaining branch of the state government; they saw it as an essential element of the state’s well-being. Their inaction would cause Nevadans more harm than can be estimated – with high licensure costs, prolonged timelines, and inefficient bureaucracy.  
 
As the nation heads towards innovation and deregulation, Nevada, once again, falls behind with 300 meetings, mandates, and middlemen and not a single hope for reforming the red tape.  

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