By Jaden Urban, 2 News Nevada, April 2, 2025
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo’s housing bill had its first hearing in the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee on Wednesday.
This is the Governor’s first bill in the 2025 Nevada State Legislature.
It was first introduced last week as Assembly Bill 540.
The Governor thinks this will help the housing crisis, but some lawmakers have specific issues with the bill.
To kick off the hearing, Lombardo sat down to address the committee.
This bill is a part of the Governor’s plan for the Nevada Attainable Housing Act he first mentioned in his State of the State Address earlier this year.
Essentially, it’s trying to gather attainable house funding that would be stored in a specific account that would then be distributed by a new Nevada Attainable Housing Council.
“We’re intending to put in a $200 million tranche into the act,” said the Governor during a press gaggle. “Part of it is a council that’s going to manage the $200 million and it’s going to go across six separate pieces of legislation to ensure that we hit every community.”
That money would stem from Nevada’s State General Fund.
Currently there are three tiers in affordable housing.
The first tier is for residents who bring in 60% or below the area median household income.
Tier two is between 60-80% and the third is 80-120%.
This proposed bill would add a fourth tier, that the Governor says will focus on essential workers who make more money but still can’t afford a house.
“Traditionally the cap would be 120 percent,” he said during the gaggle. “Now we’re going to 150 percent, because you get the middle mile, or the middle issues of people associated with the workforce.”
The bill is also looking to acquire more federal land from the Bureau of Land Management to be used for housing developments.
Lombardo also wants to put an emphasis on the rural communities.
“We’re having the same crisis in the rural Nevada,” he said. “So, the bill ensures is addressing the two large urban areas, along with the rural Nevada.”
After the initial presentation from the Governor, he stepped out of the meeting and the other applicants took over explaining the bill that’s almost 50 pages in length.
Once that was over, Assembly lawmakers got the chance to ask some questions.
One form of opposition came up both in letters that were submitted and from lawmakers, was the portion of the bill that’s proposing exemptions for prevailing wages.
“It may not be the intent, but every person that presented talked about asking construction workers to work for poverty wages,” said Assemblymember Max Carter during the hearing.
Prevailing wages are the set amount that an employer must pay a worker on a public works job that’s funded by the state.
People were arguing that this bill could take a massive hit for construction workers pay, giving them lower wages.
“There are some provisions to exempt, but there is an ability for them to receive a prevailing wage it’s a matter of a level of bid price,” the Governor said in response to these claims.
The Democrats have the majority in both the Assembly and Senate.
So, the fate will essentially lie in their hands if this bill does pass.
Lombardo is hoping to work across the aisle.
“I’m optimistic and I would think, you know I mentioned in my introduction of the bill that it’s a bipartisan bill,” he said. “It addresses all communities.”
The applicants said they heard the committees concerns and will work to address those before the next hearing.