Becky Harris (born 1968) is the former chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and a former state senator.

Biography

Harris was born in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in 1989, with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

J. Reuben Clark Law School The J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law or JRCLS) is the graduate law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, a former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and g ...

at BYU in 1992, with a master's degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000, and with a LL.M. in Gaming Law and Regulation from the

William S. Boyd School of Law The William S. Boyd School of Law is the law school of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the only law school in Nevada. It is named after William S. Boyd, a Nevada attorney and co-founder of Boyd Gaming Corporation who provided the in ...

at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2016. She is a Distinguished Fellow of Gaming and Leadership at the International Gaming Institute (IGI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and she is a non-executive director on the board of PointsBet Holdings, an Australian and United States sportsbook operator. A former Democrat, Harris unsuccessfully ran for the Nevada Assembly in 2012, losing to Andy Eisen. She ran for the Senate in 2014, defeating incumbent Justin Jones. Regarding her party switch, Harris said, "I just evolved and became very fiscally conservative as we began to employ people and take care of other people’s families and looked at what that cost in providing benefits for people and all that kind of thing.” During the 2015 legislative session, Harris sponsored Senate Bill 262, which gives courts the ability to appoint a nonresident guardian for an adult or child ward. Previously state law required a co-guardian to be a resident of Nevada. The bill ignited the guardianship reform movement in Nevada and resulted in the creation of the Nevada Guardianship Commission along with additional reform legislation. During the 2017 legislative session, Harris served on the Senate Judiciary, Finance and Education Committees. Harris received the Nevada Chapter of the Community Associations Institute's Legislator of the Year in 2015, Nevada Association of School Boards' Executive Director's Award in 2015, and the National Education Association Republican Educators Caucus' Pacific Region Legislator of the Year in 2015. In January 2018, Harris was named chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board by Governor Brian Sandoval. She is the first woman to hold the position. Harris resigned from her state senate seat to accept the appointment.

Personal life

Harris and her husband, R. Garth Harris, have two children: Sydney and Mallory. She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Becky 1968 births Brigham Young University alumni J. Reuben Clark Law School alumni Latter Day Saints from Nevada Living people Republican Party Nevada state senators Nevada Democrats Politicians from Las Vegas People from Provo, Utah University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni Women state legislators in Nevada 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Members of American gaming commissions Candidates in the 2012 United States elections Candidates in the 2014 United States elections