Bureaucracy Ain’t Boring
By Heather Korbulic
Nevada State Capitol Building in Carson City, NV. Photo/Heather Korbulic.
There’s a stereotype about bureaucrats that I hate. It basically says that they are lethargic, lazy, and unresponsive, and even the term itself, bureaucrat, is used as a pejorative. As someone who has spent 13 years leading and innovating with my fellow bureaucrats in Nevada, I have felt nothing but a persistent and heavy sense of urgency to address the needs of the citizens that I serve. Never once have I felt relaxed or bored.
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized and highlighted the importance of functional bureaucracy—a system of rules and order that works to achieve common goals across diverse populations. The agony we have experienced throughout the pandemic to balance decision making in the best interest of both the economy and public health has been palpable. The pandemic overwhelmed an already fragile infrastructure with enormous need and the response, while imperfect, has been stunning.
Whether it was the Division of Emergency Management activating the emergency operations center, the Nevada National Guard standing up testing and vaccine sites, the State Public Health Lab developing test kits, the Division of Public and Behavioral Health coordinating with local health authorities to address immediate public health needs, the state’s COVID-19 Task Force overseeing the implementation of necessary emergency directives, the Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation responding to unprecedented numbers of unemployment claims, Nevada Health Link implementing emergency special enrollment periods, the Governor’s team orchestrating the statewide response, or any other state agency that stepped up and leaned into the state’s emergency response – we are all better off because of their commitment. I have witnessed the dedication of state employees this past year, and I can confidently report that these are people that think of their jobs as more than just a means to get paid and instead an opportunity to serve.
Bureaucracy can crush you up in the cogs of tedium. However, more often than stereotypes will allow, a bureaucracy provides lifesaving relief through indispensable systems of governance. If we allow it, bureaucracies can be the petri dishes of creativity that offer new ways of problem solving. The pressure of the pandemic showed us that anything is possible when we put our heads and hearts into it.
Maybe one of the silver linings from the pandemic is that we have begun to recognize and fund our systems of rules and order with the weight of their critical importance in mind. In many ways, Nevada’s bureaucrats did what they always did over this past year; they showed up for you. Even in the darkest hours, the battle born grit and practiced resilience provided much needed light.
Heather Korbulic is the Executive Director of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange - the Nevada state agency that runs and operates the online Affordable Care Act marketplace known as Nevada Health Link. She also serves as Governor Sisolak's Policy Director for the duration of the 81st legislative session. She lives with her husband, Quinn, and their two children, Noah and Hadley in Midtown Reno.
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