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Secretary of State seeks restored one‑shot funding for Project Orion; GFO explains reallocation
Summary
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar asked the Senate Finance Committee to restore one‑shot funding for Project Orion, Nevada''s business licensing and commercial recordings modernization. Committee discussion covered prior appropriations, an amendment to restore a requested amount and where the governor's finance office proposed cuts were made.
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar presented Senate Bill 487 to the Senate Finance Committee, asking for one‑time funding to continue "Project Orion," the overhaul of Nevada''s business licensing and commercial recording systems.
"Project Orion began when the legislature appropriated 15,000,000 to start this process," Aguilar said, describing work that produced a minimal viable product and a reduction in failed transactions. He told the committee the shared backend fixes reduced call hold times from an average of 45 minutes to about 5 minutes.
Committee members asked about the requested dollar amounts. Craig Elliott, identified in committee as a secretary of state staffer, confirmed the committee's figure of $8,983,876 as the original submitted completion request. Tiffany Greenmayer from the Governor''s Finance Office explained the governor's recommendation had reduced the request to $4,184,635 before the bill was transmitted; the GFO proposed offset the restored amount by cutting other one‑shot requests including a reduction to a fire suppression supplemental. Greenmayer said the cut to the fire suppression supplemental would create space to restore the secretary of state's request.
Aguilar told the committee Project Orion fixed more than 600 software defects, decreased failed transactions and improved business owner user experience; he said the commercial recordings division generates "hundreds of millions of dollars" in revenue annually for the state and asked for the committee's support.
Why it matters: The Project Orion work touches licensing and recordings that affect businesses statewide; proponents argue more funding will produce efficiency gains, lower transaction failures and improved revenue collection for the state.
Provenance: Secretary Aguilar presented the bill; committee members questioned fiscal tradeoffs and GFO staff described budget adjustments proposed by the governor's office.
