There was one phrase in Gov. Joe Lombardo’s January State of the State deal with that particularly caught the eye of Gaming Management Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick. 

Logjam.

Throughout the speech, Lombardo took the weird step of calling out the board’s testing lab, saying that “considerations have surfaced” over the approval course of. The governor mentioned new gaming merchandise have been being launched “with extra pace outdoors of Nevada,” which supplies different on line casino states a aggressive benefit within the opinion of on line casino operators.

“We have to work with the management board to make sure the logjam is cleared,” Lombardo mentioned.

Quick ahead two months, and the board is ready to deal with the problem raised by Lombardo via a  public workshop session on Tuesday in Las Vegas, a gathering that Hendrick described as an open dialogue on methods the company can “modernize the expertise division” and effectively deal with the approval course of within the board’s check lab.

The approaching assembly on the Grant Sawyer Constructing is considered as an preliminary step in addressing on line casino business considerations raised by the governor in January over the time it takes for Nevada to approve new slot machines and related gaming tools, comparable to cashless cost expertise.

“I made a decision one of the simplest ways to deal with the problems is to get everybody collectively and freely trade concepts and options,” Hendrick mentioned.

The workshop is predicted to be well-attended by representatives from the gaming business suppliers together with Daron Dorsey, govt director of the Affiliation of Gaming Tools Producers (AGEM), the business’s commerce group.

“It’s been a very long time since anyone considered this in Nevada,” Dorsey mentioned. “Think about the pace of expertise and what gaming has achieved simply within the final eight years. We wish to present some data and particulars and provides an outline of what it seems to be like at a macro degree.”

In 2015, the Nevada Gaming Fee adopted a number of regulation modifications 4 months after they have been beneficial by the Legislature that have been considered as methods to streamline the procedures. Since that point, a number of states and tribal gaming authorities made modifications that accelerated the introduction of latest gaming expertise in markets outdoors Nevada.

Following the speech, Lombardo appointed two of the three management board members, Hendrick as chairman and former Las Vegas Choose George Assad. The governor additionally named former Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki to the gaming fee, which makes the ultimate determination on suggestions that come from the board.

Hendrick mentioned in an interview with The Nevada Impartial final month that the governor’s use of the phrase “logjam” received his consideration. He mentioned a public workshop affords a discussion board for the business to suggest concepts on the way to speed up the method.

“By understanding everybody’s objectives and targets, I’m positive we will discover methods to extra expeditiously regulate the business,” Hendrick mentioned in an e-mail. “Whereas the board ought to by no means substitute efficient regulation for expedited regulation, the 2 objectives ought to co-exist.”

Hendrick anticipates that a few of the solutions would require modifications in rules.

“Nonetheless, I’m personally searching for concepts that may be applied a lot quicker, with out the necessity for brand new rules,” he mentioned.

Jim Barbee, chief of the management board’s expertise division for greater than a decade, declined touch upon the workshop, saying he would defer to Hendrick’s remarks.

Jim Barbee, chief of the Gaming Management Board expertise division, observes a board assembly in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Impartial)

Adjustments in 2015 introduced new expertise

In October 2015, the management board and gaming fee adopted amendments to 3 gaming rules considered as a solution to “facilitate entry of latest ideas and expertise into Nevada,” in response to a memo signed by then-control board Chairman A.G. Burnett.

He additionally advised producers coordinate with the expertise division early within the improvement course of on how the idea or expertise would match into Nevada’s regulatory construction.

Burnett, now a gaming legal professional with McDonald Carano in Reno, mentioned the modifications eight years in the past “have been an excellent first step” in encouraging communication between the business and the regulators.

“The world has modified,” Burnett mentioned in an interview. “You quick ahead to at this time and there may be the arrival of every kind of latest gaming merchandise, and [there are] new entrants into the market which can be providing totally different options for gaming firms. The businesses wish to use these options, however they wish to do it rapidly.”

Burnett mentioned the governor and the board have been taking the proper steps in reviewing the method.

“I am hopeful the business and the management board and fee can come collectively and permit for continued innovation,” he mentioned.