In March, the Nevada DMV said the project to upgrade its computer systems was within budget and on track for a 2026 completion. Now, it may cost $300 million more and wrap up in fiscal year 2029.

Nevada DMV Director Julie Butler told lawmakers during a Wednesday budget hearing that the agency’s effort to upgrade its internal computer system and shift more services online is “on schedule."

In 2023, in spite of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s fierce criticism of the Steve Sisolak administration on the campaign trail, he kept even more. Ten out of the 17 cabinet appointments announced by Lombardo Friday were Sisolak holdovers

IFC Chair Sen. Chris Brooks (D-Las Vegas) lauded the proposal as a “creative solution” but said the committee wanted explicit approval from the court and state Senate Republicans.

During the final week of the legislative session, budget committees have introduced several bills aimed at providing more financial flexibility for legislative priorities — measures sometimes derided as budget “gimmicks” aimed at freeing up tens of millions of dollars to help balance the budget.

DMV leadership briefed state lawmakers on an interim state budget panel Monday on their plans for an estimated $54.3 million initiative establishing a “Virtual Field Office,” designed to transition the bulk of DMV operations and customer services over the next four years to a primarily online platform.

Same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration were two major changes that took effect this year, compounding changes brought on by the pandemic-driven shift toward mail-in voting and making this past election unlike any other in Nevada.

The change, which is set to take effect Oct. 1, stems from AB483, a bill passed this session that aims to collect information about how much Nevadans drive. Lawmakers said the bill emerged during discussions about the challenges the state faces in funding the highway system and roadways.

Members of a legislative budget subcommittee on Tuesday granted initial approval to the department’s budget for the modernization effort now re-christened as the “System Technology Application Redesign” project, with lawmakers introducing a separate bill last week (SB542) that would extend the fee’s current sunset date of June 2020 to June 2022.