By the Las Vegas Review Editorial Board, April 1, 2025
Legislative Democrats continue to hammer away at Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo for opposing a slew of their proposals to purportedly address high housing costs. Clearly, they believe this to be a winning political issue.
“This session,” said Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, “Nevada has the opportunity to enact meaningful housing legislation for the betterment of Nevadans.”
Perhaps. But little that she and her colleagues offer will do anything to accomplish that goal. The governor is surely comforted by one glaring fact. Virtually every legislative initiative that majority Democrats submit reeks of stale, warmed-over progressive dogma that would make the situation worse, not better.
Last week, Democrats in Carson City were at it again, bemoaning Gov. Lombardo’s 2023 vetoes of their housing measures and celebrating the reintroduction of the same or similar bills for the 2025 session. Most of the legislation involves either hamstringing landlords or embracing the discredited intervention known as rent control, neither of which will do anything to increase the state’s housing stock — and, in all likelihood would actually drive up costs for many renters.
Assembly Bill 283, for instance, would make it more difficult for landlords to remove deadbeat tenants. Assembly Bill 280 would impose limits on rent increases for seniors. Assembly Bill 121 micromanages how landlords collect rents. Assembly Bill 223 places restrictions on landlords involving tenants who leave but don’t take their belongings. Assembly Bill 201 seeks to seal court files in eviction cases.
The first four bills will all discourage potential landlords from entering the marketplace. Lawmakers who seek to lower housing costs should, in fact, be doing the opposite. AB201, meanwhile, is an affront to transparency and accountability. All five proposals should be sent to the circular file.
The only legislation that might help accomplish the stated goal of controlling housing costs is Assembly Bill 241, sponsored by Assemblywoman Jauregui. It would force local governments to allow for the construction of “multifamily housing development or mixed-use development on property zoned for commercial use.”
AB241 recognizes that local zoning restrictions represent one of the greatest impediments to the development of affordable housing. Giving builders more options and stripping away the unnecessary red tape that often stands in their way is a good idea.
Gov. Lombardo has vowed to again veto Democrat housing proposals that he opposed two years ago, particularly those that involve rent control or are rehashed versions of bills he previously nixed. He is on solid ground, both politically and policy-wise. AB241 may be the lone exception.