Panel to review 16 boards, commissions

The committee charged with reviewing whether or not Nevada’s 200 boards and commissions are doing their jobs well has tentatively picked out 16 for examination this interim.

The panel chaired by Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Gardnerville, is a subcommittee of the Legislative Commission and makes recommendations to that body for changes in how the different boards are composed, staffed and what they are charged with doing for a long list of different professions, interest groups and state agencies.

The so-called Sunset Subcommittee can also recommend elimination of different boards if they find the panel has either outlived the need for it or simply isn’t doing anything. Some, lawmakers have found in previous interim periods, haven’t even met for years and haven’t had their vacant membership spots filled.

One example raised Wednesday was the New Energy Industry Task Force created in 2009, which hasn’t met since 2013 and currently has no appointed members.

Another on the list is the Executive Branch Audit Committee created in 1999 during the Gov. Kenny Guinn administration. Assembly Bill 300 was introduced this past session to abolish that committee but failed to pass.

This interim, the Public Utilities Commission also will get a review. Assemblyman Erv Nelson, R-Las Vegas, asked that panel be put on the list saying he has heard some suggest its members ought to be elected instead of appointed.

The always controversial Taxicab Authority and the related Nevada Transportation Authority will get a review as well as will the panel that reviews Common Interest Communities (Homeowner’ Associations). That body too was proposed for elimination in the 2015 session.

In addition, commissions dealing with parental involvement in education, services for people with severe disabilities, the board for Dental Examiners and Dental Hygiene, Optometry and dispensing opticians will be reviewed.

Finally, they’ll look at the commission who reviews salaries for all constitutional officers, lawmakers, judges and county elected officials. That panel, which is staffed by the Legislative Counsel Bureau itself, hasn’t been used in years and also has no appointed members.