Republicans’ long-awaited reconciliation bill is … sort of here?

Some House committees have released and marked up draft text of their portions of Republicans’ mega bill, meant to cut taxes and overall spending. This is the opening salvo in what will be a monthslong process to get the caucus on board with what President Donald Trump has called the “big, beautiful bill.”

The biggest — and most controversial — elements are still being written as committee chairs try to reassure moderate members squeamish about Medicaid cuts, in particular. Below, I’ll break down what we know so far, and the major pieces that affect Nevada.

The News of the Week: Budget reconciliation

Budget reconciliation is a process by which the majority party can bypass the legislative filibuster in the Senate for bills that only relate to taxes, spending and debt — setting the requisite vote total at 50 instead of 60 votes. Thus, the majority party — in this case Republicans — can cut Democrats out of the process entirely to enact their legislative agenda. 

At this point, committees are releasing drafts of their portions of the legislation and holding markups — when committee members consider the bills and vote on whether to advance them to the full House.

Republicans are looking to cut $1.5 trillion in spending while approving new tax cuts projected to cost about $4 trillion. There are three areas that I think have particular relevance to Nevada:

• Trump’s pledge to end taxation on tips. It’s unclear exactly how this proposal will be structured, and its inclusion in a first draft does not necessarily mean that it will make it into the final bill. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), who sponsored his own version of the policy, will get to weigh in on the markup as a House Ways & Means Committee member.
• Cutting Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy tax credits. This is a key area that Republicans are targeting to generate savings — but there are plenty of House members, including Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), who want to see some favored credits preserved. I outlined what that might look like for the lithium loop and solar energy in previous stories. 
• The big one: Medicaid. Republicans are looking to cut $880 billion in energy and commerce spending, impossible to achieve without changes to Medicaid. This has been the major sticking point that’s holding up a markup in the Energy and Commerce Committee. Proposals to change how much the federal government contributes or impose work requirements would have serious implications on the uninsured rate in Nevada, where the program serves a quarter of Silver Staters.

But with markups being delayed in those two key committees, we don’t yet know the contours of how those policies will be structured. We have seen drafts for two smaller parts of the bill (in terms of size of the cuts) that are relevant to Nevada through Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) and Natural Resources committee markups. 

The Nevada Angle

In a party-line vote, the House T&I Committee approved its portion of the reconciliation bill, which cuts spending by rescinding unobligated funds from seven IRA grant programs for clean transportation projects.

One such program in Nevada is the Reconnecting Neighborhoods and Communities Grant, which awarded more than $29.7 million to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe in 2023 for the construction of a bike path on an abandoned railroad bed between tribal communities and up to the Tahoe-Pyramid Bike Path, making it possible to bike from Sutcliffe or Wadsworth up to Reno. 

But it’s unclear exactly which projects have reached final agreements — meaning most are susceptible to rescission. Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Chairman Steven Wadsworth said he’s been told the grant is under review.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), a senior member of the T&I Committee, proposed amendments during the markup to keep federal passenger and freight rail spending at Biden-era levels and to preserve funding that improves accessibility for passengers with disabilities. Both amendments were rejected.

As written, the budget does not include funding for new rail spending after the 2026 fiscal year, which Titus said is “likely to result in decreased federal rail investments.”

And in a big change for electric vehicle (EV) owners, the bill would impose a $250 annual fee on all EVs. Long discussed, this would be a way to raise revenue from EV owners who don’t pay into the gas tax that partly finances highway projects — because their cars don’t use gas.

The draft Natural Resources Committee bill released Friday contains some provisions that would affect Nevada. For those pursuing energy projects on federal lands, the bill would authorize companies to pay 125 percent of the cost of an environmental review to have their permitting process fast-tracked. 

Nevada, which is thought to have little to no oil and gas deposits, has nonetheless had exploration interest. The bill would mandate quarterly lease sales — likely increasing their frequency — in states with available land, which includes Nevada, and would decrease the onshore oil and gas royalty rate (currently 16.67 percent) to the pre-Biden era rate of 12.5 percent.

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) is a member of the Natural Resources Committee and will get to weigh in during next week’s markup.

The Impact

Again, these portions of the bill are essentially first drafts and subject to change as Republicans negotiate amongst themselves about what should be included. But for a bill that will have massive implications on Nevada, each development is worth closely analyzing. 

Around the Capitol

🌐Need for BEAD — Readers of last week’s D.C. Download will remember that Nevada’s top broadband official still feels confident that construction will begin on the state’s big broadband buildout this summer, even though federal funds are temporarily frozen as the Trump administration reviews the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) isn’t so sure. She wants the Trump administration to immediately release the funding for the three states, including Nevada, that have already received final approvals for their plan. During a hearing with a deputy commerce secretary nominee, Rosen asked for his commitment to release funding and then let him hear it when he would not commit.

“I’m trying to be clear,” Rosen said. “It has been completed. It has been approved. The money is coming, and now it’s frozen.”

⚖️Child abuse training funds cut — The Department of Justice cut five grants, worth more than $15 million, to a Nevada organization that trains court personnel on sensitively handling child abuse cases.

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, headquartered in Reno, received a series of federal grants aimed at improving how courts handle cases involving child abuse, juvenile delinquency, LGBTQ+ youth in the justice system and firearms crisis intervention. 

But the DOJ cut more than $800 million in ongoing grants, saying the programs they were funding no longer met the department’s priorities of combating violent crime and supporting victims of trafficking and sexual assault. 

✡️Rosen cracks jokes, commits to fighting antisemitism at Jewish Democrats event — Rosen spoke at a Jewish Democratic Council of America event Thursday morning about her experience as the first ever synagogue president to serve as a U.S. senator. 

She also argued that antisemitism is a “canary in the coal mine” for all forms of bigotry and can be a warning sign for the erosion of democracy.

Using Yiddish words and drawing big laughs, Rosen also joked about how her past prepared her for the U.S. Senate.

“I’d like to see Ted Cruz manage a Purim carnival sisterhood,” Rosen joked. “If you can negotiate that angry mob when the kids have wrecked that kitchen the day after that Purim carnival, if you can deal with that — and I’m not sure he can. I think he’d go to Cancun.”

What I’m Reading

The Washington Post: This senator is ‘really concerned’ about a downturn in tourism

The ghosts of 2008 haunt everyone in Las Vegas — and Washington.

The Nevada Independent: UNLV, UNR federal grant losses mount to $39M, jeopardizing ‘critical’ public health research

Trump’s proposed budget, released Friday, calls for even deeper cuts to some grantmaking health agencies.

Nevada Current: Titus rips bill that ‘doesn’t do anything about affordable housing’

The delegation is decidedly not in lockstep over the Clark County lands bill — which Titus previously sponsored in the House.

Notable and Quotable

“No matter what fiscal constraints or baseless rhetoric we hear from the administration, we will not balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable.”

— Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), supporting her failed amendment to ensure funding for passengers with disabilities is maintained.