Community Organizations Respond to Governor Joe Lombardo’s Housing Bill

NEVADA— Governor Joe Lombardo introduced legislation Monday aimed at building affordable housing across the state. The governor claims that $1 billion would be available to assist in the development of affordable housing. However, Lombardo has not specified the source of these funds, and historically, his office has struggled with financial details. According to his statements, he seeks to tie this to his effort of selling off public lands – a measure that 75% of Nevadans oppose.

Leo Murrieta, Executive Director of Make the Road Action Nevada, issued the following statement:

“Governor Lombardo’s announcement is yet another headline without a real plan. Our communities, from the urban cores of Las Vegas and Reno to rural towns like Winnemucca, are living through a severe housing crisis. Families are being priced out, living in overcrowded homes, or spending hours commuting just to stay housed. Yet the Governor offers no clear funding source and instead ties his promise to a deeply unpopular proposal to sell off public lands, which 75 percent of Nevadans oppose.

“If Lombardo truly cared about Nevada’s working families, he would have signed the housing legislation passed by lawmakers last session. Instead, he chose corporate giveaways over real solutions, while he vetoed many legislative bills in 2023 that could have expanded tenant protection across the state. Nevadans need investment in affordable housing, tenant protections, and public input, not vague promises and political distractions. We deserve bold action, not another gamble with our future.”

Shelbie Swartz, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress, issued the following statement:

“Joe Lombardo has no plan for alleviating any of Nevada’s problems and never has. His greatest and only legislative accomplishment is inaction – vetoing 75 bills passed by the Legislature in 2023. One of those bills aimed to address the housing affordability crisis he now claims to care about, yet he vetoed it as well. Instead of allocating state funds to affordable housing, Lombardo prioritized a special session to provide public money for a baseball stadium. Joe Lombardo has struggled to account for Nevada’s finances time and time again and now wants to sell away our public lands to cover his ineptitude."

Kimberly Ireland, a Culinary Union member issued the following statement:

“I was born and raised in Las Vegas, but I feel like I’m being pushed out by landlords that don’t even live here. I was living in my home since 2017, but the moment the COVID-19 pandemic hit, my landlord started trying to evict me,” said Kimberly Ireland, a bell desk dispatcher on the Las Vegas Strip and a Culinary Union member for 14 years. “The landlord stopped fixing things, had the water shutoff on me, and even the A/C stopped working. The landlord wasn’t working with rental assistance programs, so I started the process for a court mediation, but that didn’t happen. Once the court date for my eviction was set, it seemed like the law was on the side of the landlord and as a tenant, I felt like the system completely let me down. I now have an eviction on my record and it’s been hard to find a quality, long-term, and affordable home to rent. The eviction process is confusing and hurts working families. I support reforming the eviction process. I hope that the Nevada Legislature passes AB280 and AB201 and that Governor Lombardo signs them into law because it would protect Nevadans like me.”

Laura Martin, Executive Director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada Action Fund, issued the following statement:

“Yes, Lombardo, we do want rental assistance and downpayment assistance but your plan lacks a holistic approach that actually addresses the root causes of the housing crisis. There is an urgency that a public lands giveaway won’t solve on its own. Tenants in Nevada are rent-burdened, they are often powerless when met with an eviction, a rent hike, or even in need of a basic repair. Sprawl will not solve the inherent imbalance of power between tenants and landlords. Indiscriminate expansion is careless and will worsen the urban heat island effect that disproportionately impacts communities of color. If Lombardo wants to take solid steps towards addressing the housing crisis, he needs to sign the tenant protections on the table this session, unlike in 2023.”

Mathilda Guerrero Miller, Government Relations Director of Native Voters Alliance Nevada, issued the following statement:

“If MAGA Republicans and Joe Lombardo genuinely cared about solving the housing crisis, they’d pass real legislation to keep working families in their homes. Instead, they cater to landlords, developers, and industry insiders to line their own pockets. Now, Lombardo’s orchestrating a political circus to distract from his failures, hoping no one notices the damage he’s already done. Let’s make one thing abundantly clear to anyone who thinks our public lands are disposable: they are not for sale. Ancestral lands will not be carved up to fix Lombardo’s policy blunders.

“And let’s not forget—when Tribes and grassroots advocates fought for and won the designation of Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, Governor Lombardo didn’t celebrate. He called it a ‘federal confiscation.’ If that’s really how he feels, then we expect to see him call on Congress and the White House to return stolen land to Tribal Nations. Until then, don’t mistake distraction for leadership.”

The bills Governor Lombardo vetoed in 2023 include:

AB340 (Adjusting Nevada’s Summary Eviction Process), SB78 (Tenant Protections), AB218 (Rental Fee Transparency), SB371 (Clarity on Rent Control Implementation), SB275 (Rent Caps for Those Living in Mobile Homes), SB395 (Tracking and Limiting Corporate Home Buyers), SB335 (Tenant Protections and an Eviction Diversion Program), AB298 (Temporary Rent Caps for Seniors / Social Security Recipients)

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About Battle Born Progress: Battle Born Progress, through strategic communication efforts, empowers, engages and mobilizes Nevada voters to build a state where everyone has a fair opportunity to succeed. We support, engage, and mobilize the progressive community through bold leadership, strategic communications, accountability, and education. We are on the cutting edge of new media and are the go-to source for progressive issues and advocacy for traditional media.