Gibbons weighs consolidating, abolishing state boards

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 | 1:45 a.m.

CARSON CITY – There are more than 100 state boards or commissions that regulate industries or professions in Nevada.

They range from the state Gaming Control Board to the Cosmetology Board.

Gov. Jim Gibbons is zeroing in on them, looking to abolish some, consolidate others and make subcommittees of some of them.

Gibbons sent a letter to the boards for their presidents and executive secretaries to be at a July 21 meeting in Carson City to determine whether they were created by the Nevada Constitution, by the Legislature or by the whim of a past governor.

There are 169 boards or commissions listed on the state’s website, including the Board for the Education and Counseling of Displaced Homemakers and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relation to Holocaust.

Many of these boards aren't supported from the state’s taxpayers, but instead are funded by the group that is regulated.

Questions being asked include whether they provide a core service, such as public safety, health, education, regulation or vocational licensing. Gibbons’ office wants to know the consequences of eliminating a board.

Daniel Burns, public information officer for Gibbons, said most of these boards pay for themselves, but called it an effort to streamline state government. Some of these boards have deputy attorneys general assigned to them, which could also be consolidated, Burns said.

For instance, Burns cited the cosmetology board and the barbers’ health and sanitation board as one possible consolidation. But he emphasized that nothing has been decided.

In discussing the merits of possible moves, Burns said he believed the state Board of Pharmacy voted itself a 3.9 percent raise at its last meeting while state workers have been forced to take one furlough day a month to help balance the budget.

But he said the board backed down when the governor’s office inquired about the raises. Robin Reedy, chief of staff for Gibbons, said this shows the boards act without informing the governor’s office of their plans.

Carolyn Cramer, general counsel for the pharmacy board, said the board voted for the staff a cost-of-living raise at its meeting, but the staff refused the increase. The board didn't vote to raise its $80 per day pay for meetings, she said.

Cramer said she didn't think the full board knew about the meeting called by the governor. She said she expected board president Donald Fey of Las Vegas and executive secretary Larry Pinson of Reno would attend.

Burns said he will also determine whether functions performed by state boards are also being performed by the federal government or local governments.

One possibility, he said, is to create a new agency to oversee what might be a slimmed down number of boards and commissions.

Gibbons won’t get to make a final decision on the matter. He will have to pass his recommendations to the incoming governor, who will decide whether the suggestions are worthwhile.