Wednesday, April 2, 2025 | 2 a.m.
Gov. Joe Lombardo revealed a $250 million housing plan Tuesday aimed at assisting Nevada residents whose incomes exceed low-income housing thresholds yet remain insufficient to secure market-rate apartments in Las Vegas.
The plan is part of the Republican governor’s legislative agenda this session. He says it would significantly expand affordable housing eligibility to include individuals earning up to 150% of the local area median income.
Speaking Tuesday at a soon-to-open affordable housing development in southern Las Vegas, Lombardo emphasized that the expanded eligibility would directly benefit essential workers, including nurses and teachers.
The Nevada Housing Access and Attainability Act “will provide unprecedented relief and opportunity in our housing market,” the governor said. “It’s my hope that every Nevadan will be able to realize their dream of homeownership.”
Lombardo wants to put $200 million toward an “attainable housing account” to be used for land, housing development and grants, loans and rebates for rental assistance, and eviction diversion.
Steve Aichroth, administrator of the Nevada Housing Division, said the additional $50 million would come from his office’s trust funds over the next few years.
The act, Assembly Bill 540, would also create easier paths for contractors to get licenses in areas desperate for construction, part of the governor’s stated focus on cutting through regulatory “red tape.”
Since the beginning of 2020, the median sale price of a home in Las Vegas has gone up by around 50% to nearly $450,000, according to Redfin. For renters, Zillow data shows that a one-bedroom apartment currently goes for an average of $1,324.
Rising costs aren’t just a Las Vegas problem. Around 40% of middle-class renters in the United States spend at least 30% of their income on rent, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. Census data.
Under Lombardo’s plan, $125 million of the fund would “revolve” every year and a half to four years. In other words, the Nevada Housing Division would use the money from loan payments and put it back toward developing more housing, multiplying the investment’s value, Aichroth explained.
“The Housing Division estimates that for every dollar invested through the $250 million fund, there will be a leverage ratio of over five times, which provides program impacts of well over a billion dollars,” he said.
“Or to put in numbers we can all appreciate: Over the next four years, this $250 million investment will support about 16,000 Nevadan households,” Aichroth said.
To get the bill to his own desk, Lombardo will have to win the support of legislative Democrats, who control the Assembly and state Senate. The governor said conversations around the bill have already started and that negotiations were a “give and take” process.
The state Democratic Party has attempted to pin the ongoing housing crisis on the governor, pointing to several vetoes during the 2023 legislative session. Lombardo rejected bills that would have cracked down on fees and capped rents for seniors and people with disabilities.
“Under Joe Lombardo, Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and its ongoing housing crisis is leading to skyrocketing eviction rates and homelessness,” party spokesperson Tai Sims wrote in a news release last week. “He owns Nevada’s housing crisis.”
Southern Nevada Home Builders Association CEO Tina Frias and Tommy White, secretary-treasurer of the local laborers’ union, both praised the governor’s bill, saying it’s needed to increase the supply of housing to drive down prices.
“The act was developed hand in hand with Nevada home builders, ensuring that the solutions put forward are realistic, effective and capable of addressing the barriers to new home construction,” Frias said.
Lombardo also touted a new memorandum of understanding between the state and the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management that would help identify what federal lands could be released for housing development. He expects it will be signed May 1.
The governor also recently sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Housing and Urban Development Department requesting that Nevada be included on its Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing.
“They all work together within the federal beltway, and it’s part of the solution we’re trying to achieve,” Lombardo said. “Housing is one of the most serious challenges we face in our state.”