Less than two weeks after Gov. Joe Lombardo appointed Kirk Hendrick as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s chief executive chastised the agency’s test lab during his State of the State address.

Lombardo said approval of new gaming equipment and associated technology was taking too long and Nevada was falling behind other states.

Hendrick had his first assignment.

A former deputy attorney general, Hendrick said the governor’s observation was “the perfect example” of why he returned to state government work after nearly three decades as a sports law attorney and top executive with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

“He used the word ‘logjam.’ If that’s a word coming out of the governor’s mouth, that gets my attention,” Hendrick told The Nevada Independent. “There’s some disconnect between what the industry wants and effective regulation. That’s what made the job interesting.”