The amendment would require the sale of public lands in Clark, Lyon, Pershing and Washoe counties within a two-year period

In this week’s Behind the Bar: We explain Lombardo’s housing bill, and how lawmakers propose vastly expanding a narrow state paid family leave requirement.

It is the second straight cycle where the industry was the second-highest category of donor to state lawmakers, slotting in behind gaming groups, but this year’s haul had much more of a Republican lean than the 2022 cycle.

Two days after the State of the State, The Nevada Independent’s legislative team brings you the inside scoop on some of the policies discussed during the address. Keep an eye out Sunday for our annotated edition of the State of the State.

Las Vegas has the opportunity to have it all, a well-designed metropolis that will satisfy a growing population, while enjoying a pristine desert environment only miles from the city center.

Why housing? It’s the rare cost of living issue that voters seem to reward Democrats on. In an April poll conducted by Emerson College and The Hill, housing was ranked as Nevada voters’ number four issue, behind only the economy, immigration and education. 

No other state has undertaken similar efforts offsetting development for conservation in the way that Nevada has. Nevada’s lands bills hold a unique place among federal conservation strategies and have garnered bipartisan support, bypassing traditional political wisdom of Republicans supporting privatization while Democrats favor environmental protections.

As Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has campaigned for governor, he has cast himself as a moderate Republican who has devoted his life to protecting Nevadans.

Though Gov. Steve Sisolak and other state leaders have touted Nevada as having the nation’s best economic momentum out of the pandemic, many residents are struggling to make ends meet amid a steep rise in rental and home prices.

Though a majority of the bills surrounding tenants’ rights and evictions survived the first legislative deadline in early April, a cluster of affordable housing measures that supporters emphasized would give local governments more tools to address the housing crisis ended up on the cutting room floor.

The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources voted Friday to advance a legislative proposal, pushed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, to require the removal of about 5,000 acres of unused grass, an action that could save billions of gallons of Colorado River water each year.

This week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at a hearing Tuesday on AB380, legislation that would require gas utilities to go through a comprehensive planning process meant to consider the effects of decarbonization on their operations and ratepayers.

In this edition: Is this the session lawmakers find a funding solution for the Millennium Scholarship? (No). Plus, it’s another deadline day, the future of Read by 3, building trades back Innovation Zones, major changes to a mental health hotline bill for first responders and details on an affordable housing campaign backed by the home builders.

Advocates, real estate agents and developers have turned their eyes to Carson City, with representatives for each group saying that lawmakers’ decisions this session will have long-term implications for the future of Nevada’s housing market.

This week’s Indy Environment newsletter looks at a long-awaited congressional bill that would change the way federal public land is managed in Clark County, creating a path to expand the Las Vegas metro area toward California while setting aside land for conservation.

Through the 2020 election cycle, no industry gave more money to Nevada’s legislators than real estate companies, developers and the PACs funded by those companies, which combined to contribute more than $1.3 million over the last two years.

The goal is clear: To reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. The challenge is how to get there.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is working to change the conversation around the Clark County lands bill proposal, especially as it relates to conservation. To do that, the senator’s staff began floating legislative language — known as a “discussion draft” — Tuesday that aims to resolve some of the most controversial aspects of the county’s plan.

Townhomes practically disappeared from the Las Vegas real-estate market immediately after the recession, but a confluence of factors have breathed new life into attached housing products.