Here's Gov. Joe Lombardo's plan to solve the Nevada housing crisis

Yahoo

04-04-2025

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A $250 million plan to spur construction of homes and apartments for low- to middle-income Nevadans is projected to provide homes for 16,000 people, according to officials who presented it Wednesday night in Carson City.
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo led the presentation along with state housing officials and a lineup of construction and business executives who support the plan.
'The Nevada Housing Access and Attainability Act represents a bold, innovative and comprehensive approach to addressing our state's housing challenges by lowering the cost of housing, expanding attainable housing options and eliminating barriers to development,' Lombardo said early in the hearing, which started at 5 p.m. and lasted well past 8 p.m.
At its core, the proposal would help construction move forward in a business climate that has brought many projects to a halt.
Hard questions from Democratic lawmakers on the Assembly Commerce Committee and opposition from unions suggest the bill — Assembly Bill 540 (AB540) — might need some changes if it is to survive in the Nevada Legislature. Part of the bill would allow exceptions from paying construction workers prevailing wages on some housing projects. And that's a major sticking point with unions.
'We agree that housing is a crisis in our state, but AB540 is not the solution. In fact, it does real harm to the very workers who keep this state running,' union representative Ross Kinson said.
'You cannot say you're building housing for essential workers while undermining the wages of the essential workers who build it. This bill invites a race to the bottom,' Kinson said. He was speaking for the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council, the AFL-CIO and Northern Nevada Building Trades.
The bill is one of Lombardo's priorities this session, and it would require $200 million from the state general fund. An additional $50 million would come from accounts managed by the Nevada Housing Division. Here's how that money would be allocated:
$100 million for competitive loans or other financing to support both multi-family and single family home construction, both rental and for-sale
$25 million to support financing of land for housing development
$50 million for home ownership, in the form of down payment assistance, interest rate buy-downs or rebates
$25 million for rental assistance
$25 million for matching grants to local governments
$25 million for supportive housing
Christine Hess, chief financial officer for the Nevada Housing Division, emphasized that these allocations are currently a 'sketch' that will ultimately be determined by the Nevada Attainable Housing Council. The bill would create the council to direct the allocation of funding.
The first two allocations add up to $125 million, half the total funding, and would be part of loan programs. Those loans would be available for middle-income households making up to 150% of the Area Median Income (AMI) where they live. It's that segment of the population that doesn't qualify for help under other government programs, but still can't afford a home in Nevada.
Jess Molasky, COO at Nevada-based Ovation Development, called them the 'missing middle,' and said it's a growing segment of the population. They are Nevadans making $60,000 to $100,000. Molasky's grandfather was Irwin Molasky, an important figure in the development of Las Vegas for decades beginning in the 1950s.
Hess estimated that the bill would mean homes for about 16,000 Nevadans.
Lombardo said the funding for AB540 would go much further than just spending taxpayer dollars once. The $200 million from the general fund would leverage the development of $1 billion in new housing solutions, he said.
'We all know that Home Means Nevada, and this bill seeks to ensure that our state anthem becomes a realized dream for all Nevadans seeking affordable and attainable housing options,' Lombardo said.
'This $200 million of initial funding will aid in the development of attainable housing, provide gap construction financing, provide financial assistance to support housing services for low-income households, provide rental assistance for fixed-income and low-income households, aid in land acquisition for attainable housing development, provide down payment assistance for essential workers like teachers, nurses and law enforcement, and match grants for local governments who commit to increasing attainable housing supply,' he said.
Lombardo added that negotiations are continuing with the Bureau of Land Management to identify areas that are eligible for housing development, with a target of May 1 to finalize a list. 'With 85% of our state under federal control, Nevada has struggled to find land to build more housing. However, since taking office, my administration has worked tirelessly to change this,' he said.
While unions waited to have their say, executives explained how the approach would break down barriers to construction.
Tina Frias, CEO of the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association, cited a study from the University of California, Berkeley, that estimated prevailing wage requirements had inflated development costs by $94,000 per unit.
That's especially problematic in rural Nevada, where the need for affordable housing needs attention.
But unions and Democrats pushed back hard on any suggestion that workers should be expected to do the job for less money.
'We believe that if taxpayer funding is going to go into construction projects these should be covered by public works and prevailing wage,' Ronald Young said, speaking for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357.
Democratic Assem. Max Carter said labor is less than 10% of the cost for housing, and railed against other provisions of the bill meant to ease construction costs in rural counties. 'We're bending over backwards to create profit streams for out-of-state companies. Why is that?'
Ryan Cherry, Lombardo's chief of staff, emphasized that the administration supports prevailing wage. 'What we are trying to do is find a way to balance the cost approach in some of the areas in our communities.' Cherry and Hess both emphasized that contractors who pay prevailing wage would get the preference when they were available.
And Nevada Housing Division Administrator Steve Aicroth clarified, 'In the space that we operate, there is not a residential prevailing wage standard.'
If the prevailing wage question can be resolved, AB540 appears to have wide support. Builders lined up to testify in support, and a representative of the Clark County Education Association called it 'a game-changer' for teachers, possibly helping more than 5,000 families buy homes.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager raised the question of tariffs and how they might impact actual costs and the bill's real impact.
'I would love to say we can build in a perfect environment,' Aicroth answered. 'We haven't seen a perfect environment in a long time and I don't know that we'll see a perfect environment in the near future. But we have to build.
'We can't afford to wait,' Aicroth said. 'It is the hand that we're dealt, and it's the cards we're going to play.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.