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Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) of Nevada submitted a letter this week to the state Senate’s majority leader and assembly speaker, urging the Legislature to adopt a resolution that would push for more control of the state’s federal land to build homes.
“Since taking office, I have heard time and again the drastic need for housing in our state,” Lombardo said in the letter. “The increasing costs — driven by inflation, higher interest rates, the growing cost of living, and a dwindling housing inventory — are placing an unbearable strain on the budgets of families across Nevada.”
Nearly 87% of the state’s land is under federal control, the governor said, which imposes severe limitations on developers who seek to add more supply.
“Growth in many rural areas of our state is currently constrained by the lack of developable land,” Lombardo wrote. “Projections indicate that Washoe County could run out of developable land by 2027, while Clark County may face the same challenge by 2032.”
Washoe County encompasses Reno, while Clark County contains Las Vegas. They are the two most populous counties in the state.
Lombardo said he has conferred with Nevada’s federal congressional delegation and President Donald Trump about the potential assumption of federal land to develop additional housing stock. But he is also seeking the state Legislature’s support “to advocate for the immediate and systematic release of federal land in Nevada,” he said.
Included in the letter is a draft resolution outlining the challenges that the effort could face. The letter describes in conciliatory language how Lombardo hopes to “work across the aisle” with lawmakers to potentially gain momentum for a takeover of federal land in the state.
But the resolution itself uses more charged language, accusing the federal government of “infring[ing] upon Nevada’s sovereignty and equality as a state, contradicting the constitutional principle of equal footing and denying Nevada the same opportunities afforded to other states with minimal federal landholdings.”
The draft resolution also claims that the federal government’s failure to release the land at hand “limits Nevada’s ability to generate revenue through property taxes, resource development, and economic diversification, forcing an overreliance on industries such as gaming and tourism.” It goes on to accuse the federal government of failing to fulfill promises made to Nevada when it became a state in 1864.
Those promises “explicitly recognized the need for federal lands to be systematically disposed of to promote the state’s development,” and they remain “unfulfilled” while “perpetuat[ing] an imbalance that hinders Nevada’s ability to provide for its citizens,” the draft resolution reads.
Lombardo also said that continued federal control of the land poses ecological risks, including threats of wildfires, and that the vast swath of land controlled by the government has contributed to “a crisis of affordability, driving up housing costs, limiting opportunities for working families, and exacerbating economic disparities across rural and urban communities.”
HousingWire reached out to the offices of Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager but did not receive an immediate reply. But Democratic Assembly Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui said that lawmakers are acting on this issue, and that the governor’s actions are not helpful.
“For the past several months, I have been working with stakeholders to draft a resolution on accessing more lands for housing needs, and I have committed to working with them on this vital issue,” Jauregui told HousingWire.
“Accessing land is an important long-term challenge for our state. However, we can address many of the urgent needs of our community right now by taking action on potential veto overrides that are on the chief clerk’s desk.”
One ongoing action in the state’s Senate takes aim at corporations buying up single-family homes to convert them into rentals. Lombardo previously vetoed a bill that would have capped the number of properties that could be purchased, drawing ire from Democrats. Jauregui said that the governor has room to demonstrate a bipartisan commitment to the issue.
“If Gov. Lombardo is serious about tackling housing affordability and not just writing letters, he should work with legislative Democrats and Republicans to provide immediate action for Nevada families,” she said.
Early last year, Democrats aimed to highlight a series of vetoes the governor issued in 2023. That action occurred around the same time then-President Joe Biden visited Las Vegas to promote his administration’s housing policies. And last week, local reporting said that the Legislature is holding back four of his vetoed bills from 2023 in an effort to potentially override them later this year.
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced a bill designed to make more land available for housing development in Washoe County, as well as to add new tribal services and outdoor recreation centers. Rosen previously introduced the bill in the Senate and it went to the floor for wider deliberation, but it failed to be approved.
