By David Charns, KLAS, March 25, 2025
Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said he may have to call a special legislative session later in the year to handle possible cuts from the federal government that directly impact the state budget.
The governor sat down exclusively with 8 News Now, answering questions about his legislative priorities and several other topics affecting this session, which ends in June.
Lawmakers in Carson City are preparing for impending government cuts in federal spending, which could affect Medicaid and the state’s budget. Republicans in Congress, who already have ruled out massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, are turning their attention to siphoning as much as $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade to help finance $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
States and the federal government jointly pay for Medicaid, which offers nearly free health care coverage for roughly 80 million poor and disabled Americans, including millions of children. About 800,000 Nevadans are covered under Medicaid.
“Of course, I would be concerned,” Lombardo said about possible cuts, adding he was waiting to watch the process play out in Washington, D.C.
“We have heard from the Trump administration that it was not inclusive of the adjustments under health services now, but that’s not been codified by law or in a decision by Congress,” Lombardo said. “We have to wait for that process to take place.”
The governor said should federal cuts go into effect post-legislative session, lawmakers would need to return to Carson City.
“Something at that magnitude, we would,” he said.
Housing
Lombardo introduced legislation Monday aimed at building affordable housing across the state. The Nevada Housing Access and Attainability Act would create a housing fund to assist in the development of $1 billion in affordable housing, the governor said. About $250 million would go toward rental and downpayment assistance through grants, loans and rebates.
“We are by no means in a situation where we have to restrict growth versus expand upon growth,” Lombardo said. “And for us to be successful as a community and an economy, we have to expand.”
The proposal would also expand affordable housing eligibility for Nevada households making up to 150% of the area median income, the governor’s office said.
A major part of the proposed law would remove restrictions for builders looking to create affordable housing on government-owned land. Auctions to buy the land often lead to affordable housing builders getting priced out, Lombardo said.
The governor added amid concerns about water, the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other players in the water space have done “a magnanimous job” at conservation and he had no concerns about expansion.
Education
Lombardo said he would sign an education bill that includes school choice and opportunity scholarship tax credits.
“School choice is all-encompassing,” he said. “It’s charter schools. It’s different educational opportunities. It’s open zoning, the ability to receive transportation, to go to a different school versus a traditional place where you reside.”
The governor said it was too early to comment on possible education spending, but said he wanted to make 2023 teacher pay raises permanent.
“They can define their life associated with their salary, their interest in the teaching profession and incentives that go along with it,” Lombardo said. “That would be the increase that has been identified.”
Movie studios
A Democratic-led proposal would provide tax credits to Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Howard Hughes Holdings to develop a 31-acre film hub in Las Vegas.
The project hinges on Assembly Bill 238, which would provide $80 million in film tax credits from 2028 to 2043 and require at least $400 million to be invested in Nevada.
Lombardo does not think taxpayers should have to bear the credit and wants more of a jobs-centric bill.
“You have to get past the sensationalism of it, you know, the Hollywood, the celebrity and everything else,” he said. “If it’s presented more as a jobs bill versus a movie tax credit bill, I think it would be better served for our community.”
Immigration
Lombardo highlighted the policy of the department he led for how Nevada police and sheriffs should handle immigration enforcement.
“My advice to Nevada sheriffs and chiefs is, those sheriffs are autonomous, they’re elected officials, but I would recommend they use a similar policy as Las Vegas Metro,” Lombardo said in an interview with 8 News Now.
Leaders at several law enforcement agencies in Southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, have told 8 News Now they are not helping the federal government in any immigration-related arrests unless a violent, undocumented felon is booked into their jail.
Metro alerts ICE during booking and release for violent felonies and crimes that fall in line with the Laken Riley Act, which includes theft and shoplifting. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must obtain a warrant and pick up the inmate.
Both Lombardo and current LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill have said ICE only picks up a portion of the people Metro alerts them about.
Lombardo highlighted the difference between police combating state crimes versus federal agents enforcing federal ones. Under his leadership at Metro, the department partnered with ICE in the jail. That program ended in 2019 after a court ruling about booking records.
“I totally respect and I support what Donald Trump is trying to do in the immigration space,” Lombardo said. “If Trump says, ‘Hey, you need to do more, you need to help us in this space.’ Remember what I always said, you’ve got to be attached to a federal officer, and it’s always been a resource-driven problem. And there aren’t enough resources or federal officers located in the state of Nevada to increase upon our effort.”
Lombardo plans to veto any legislation aimed at curbing federal immigration enforcement at schools or churches, he said.