Last week, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo introduced his first bill in the 2025 Nevada Legislative session.
Assembly Bill 540 is centered around creating more attainable housing for the Silver State.
"Affordable housing has always been a focal point of mine, but inclusive of that is what is going on nationwide," the governor said.
On Tuesday, the governor—along with stakeholders—held a press conference in Las Vegas talking about the bill before it's heard in Nevada State Legislature tomorrow in the Commerce and Labor chamber.
One of the first points Lombardo brought up during his speech was how the Governor's Office couldn't do this by themselves.
Lombardo said talking to housing and subject matter experts was key for writing this bill.
"This isn't an idea that came from myself, it came from people that know that business," he said.
This bill is a part of Governor Lombardo's plan for the Nevada Attainable Housing Act.
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.
The bill is looking to create $250 million to add to the housing account from the State General Fund.
Lombardo says this will then allocate $1 billion for attainable housing over the next few years.
The legislation says it's trying to offer incentives to speed up developments, and attract more out of state contractors.
The governor says they're putting an emphasis on getting more rural developments as well.
The bill would also add folks making about 120-150% of the area median income into another tier for affordable housing.
"Which will support essential workers like teachers, nurses and first responders," Governor Lombardo said.
The governor revealed there are conversations happening with the Bureau of Land Management to acquire some federal land for housing.
He says they have an agreement with the BLM to inquire about some land that could be signed by May 1.
"As I've said before, 85% of Nevada's land is managed by the federal government which has limited our ability to expand on housing availability," Lombardo said.
The Democrats have the majority in both the Assembly and the Senate, and some in the party have some issues with it.
"It does nothing to address large corporations or corporate investors coming into Nevada and buying up large stocks of homes, ultimately out-pricing hardworking, working class Nevadans," said Tai Sims, Communication Director for the Nevada State Democratic Party.
The bill will be first heard in the committee on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.
