Nevadans are sick of getting pushed around by a government that can’t even keep track of its own rules.
I hear it everywhere I go. Folks are tired of red tape. Tired of hidden fees. Tired of hoops that don’t help anyone.
So if I decide to run for the Assembly again, I won’t be promising a long list of new laws. Instead I’ll propose throwing out a bunch of old ones.
Nevada doesn’t need a bigger rulebook. It needs a bonfire.
Legislators and bureaucrats keep stacking rules on top of rules, year after year, like old newspapers in your garage.
We pass a law or a regulation and then it just sits there. Forever. Nobody checks to see if it still works. Nobody asks if it still makes sense.
Meanwhile, the people who pay the price are the folks trying to open a small business . . . or a family trying to get a license approved . . . or a rancher who needs a permit that takes months because an agency is working off rules written in the 1990s.
Or even the 1890s!
This is not how a smart state runs.
Texas figured this out a long time ago.
They set expiration dates on agencies. If lawmakers don’t review and renew them, they disappear. That simple rule saved Texas billions.
Colorado does something similar. They force regulators to prove a rule protects health and safety. If it doesn’t, it goes in the trash.
Even Oklahoma is pushing a “two for one” plan. Add one new rule and you have to cut two old ones.
They’ve all got the right idea. Clean house. Clear the clutter. Make government prove it deserves to stay.
Nevada can do the same thing and do it better
If I head back to Carson City, I’ll support a Nevada Sunset and Regulatory Review Act. It’s a mouthful, but the idea is simple:
Government doesn’t get to operate on cruise control anymore.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
We put expiration dates on certain boards, agencies, and occupational licenses. When the clock runs out, they face a real review. Not a talkfest. A real review that asks three basic questions.
- Does this rule protect health and safety?
- Is there a less restrictive option?
- Is this still in the public interest?
If the answer is no, then the rule, program, or agency is gone.
Next, we build a public online catalog of every regulation in Nevada.
Texans can already see what their rules are. So can people in other states. Why should Nevadans have to dig through agency websites like they’re on a scavenger hunt.
Then we add a two-for-one requirement for any new rule that costs people time or money.
You want a new regulation? Fine. But you have to fix or remove two old ones.
That forces discipline. It forces agencies to pick what matters.
And every new rule sunsets automatically in five to seven years unless the Legislature says it still works.
If it’s a good rule, it stays. If not, it doesn’t survive the review.
That’s how Nevada voters win
Here’s the part that matters most. This plan puts power back where it belongs. With you.
It helps the hairstylist trying to rent a chair in Sparks.
It helps the mechanic in Pahrump who has to deal with outdated license rules.
It helps the home baker in North Las Vegas who gets buried under food regulations made for giant factories, not a mom running a clean kitchen.
Families win. Small businesses win. Taxpayers win.
And yes, critics will clutch their pearls and say this is “too extreme.”
But the real extreme thing is letting rules pile up forever while working people carry the load.
Nevadans are tired of clutter. Tired of waste. Tired of government acting like it owns the place.
If government wants to keep a rule, it needs to prove it. That’s fair. That’s simple. That’s common sense.
And if I go back to Carson City, I’ll raise a stink until it happens.
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