In today’s edition: 

• How Lombardo proposes turning $250 million into $1 billion in housing projects
• A vast expansion of paid family leave
• More oversight when using out-of-state foster families

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From the Capital Bureau Chief:

Flanked by people in yellow construction vests and white hard hats, Gov. Joe Lombardo’s Tuesday press conference in Las Vegas kicked off the choreographed publicity push for his housing bill, AB540.

Highlighting how development targeting middle-income families could soon be eligible for the kinds of government incentives currently reserved for low-income families, and his proposal to establish a $250 million fund to support housing projects in the state, won headlines and set the agenda the day before the bill’s first legislative hearing Wednesday.

We’ll get into details of the bill below and the frustrations it drew from Democrats during the Wednesday hearing, but one thing of note — the veto-record-setting governor didn’t miss the opportunity to take another public swing at proposals going through the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

“I also continue to hold the line against policies that will take us in the wrong direction, like rent control … and construction defect changes,” he said.

If we had a sportsbook in the Legislature, I think the line on vetoes would be above 75.

As always, please send us your questions, thoughts and suggestions. You can reach me at tabitha@thenvindy.com. 

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What we learned (and didn’t) about Lombardo’s housing bill

One press conference, one three-hour bill hearing and one media availability later, here’s what we’ve learned about how the 48-page bill would work:

• It would establish a new tier of affordable housing eligibility referred to as “attainable housing” for households earning up to 150 percent of an area’s median household income. Traditional affordable housing is geared toward people with lower incomes; governments use a variety of policies to incentivize its development and ensure people who make certain incomes can live there.
  • It also authorizes the Nevada Housing Division to lower income thresholds as interest rates fall and affordability improves. 
  • It would allocate $200 million in state general funds in a new account for affordable housing projects. The Nevada Housing Division will contribute $50 million in additional money from its trust funds to exclusively support loans from the account. A new council will oversee and guide the new account.
  • To address housing shortages in rural areas, the bill would allow out-of-state housing contractors to work on projects in rural areas, which Nevada law currently prohibits.
    • Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) said during the hearing that he wanted to have further discussions on how to ensure out-of-state contractors do not take advantage of this arrangement.
  • The bill also mandates expedited review and permitting processes for attainable housing projects.

Proponents, including the governor, have said the combined $250 million will unlock more than $1 billion in new workforce and attainable housing projects. But how will that work?

• Nevada Housing Division Administrator Steve Aichroth said Tuesday that about half of the funds will turn over every one and a half to four years to create a revolving loan fund, providing a continuous source of capital.
  • The remaining $125 million, Aichroth said at the presser, has been “imagined initially” as potential loans, matching grants, down payment assistance, rental assistance, supportive housing advancements and rebates to support Nevadans making up to 150 percent of the area’s median income.
    • Context: In Reno, which has a median income of $78,448, that 150 percent threshold could be more than $117,000. In Las Vegas, where the median income is about $70,723, that threshold could be up to $106,000.
• Here’s where the $1 billion figure comes from:
  • “The housing division estimates that for every dollar invested through the $250 million fund, there will be a leverage ratio of over five times,” Aichroth said. 

Like every other bill, the housing measure would require Democratic support to become law — but that might be tricky.

During the hearing, Lombardo described the bill as offering “bipartisan solutions” and told reporters ahead of the hearing that he’s spoken with lawmakers across the aisle about it. But Democrats said they weren’t included in conversations surrounding the bill’s development and were unhappy that housing projects would be exempt from prevailing wage requirements.

• Prevailing wage is a kind of minimum wage for construction workers tied to compensation for similarly employed workers in the area of intended employment.
  • During the bill hearing, Tina Frias, the CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, said requiring prevailing wage "would increase home prices beyond what middle and middle income families could afford.”
• Democrats were frustrated.
  • “We're willing to sacrifice construction workers. We're willing to let them work for substandard wages,” Assm. Max Carter (D-Las Vegas) said.
• However, the bill prioritizes funding projects that provide prevailing wages, and Lombardo Chief of Staff Ryan Cherry said the governor supports prevailing wages “across the board.”
• Lawmakers asked whether tariffs implemented at the federal level could raise housing costs in Nevada.
  • Aichroth and other officials said they didn’t have a definitive answer.
    • “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,” Aichroth said.
  • Cherry said the governor’s office hasn’t talked with the federal government directly about tariffs but could do so during discussions about freeing up federal land for housing.

The private sector was split.

• Supporters of the bill largely came from business and housing groups. The Clark County Education Association also testified in support.
• Meanwhile, several unions testified in opposition.
  • “We believe that if taxpayer funding is going to go into construction projects, they should be covered by public works and prevailing wage,” said Ronald Young, a lobbyist for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357.

— Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren

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What we’re reading and writing

Nevada may save money on Medicaid because immigrants are afraid to use it, state says by Isabella Aldrete

Congress may expand a rule that denies legal status to immigrants who use public benefits. 

Nevada board moves to limit transgender athletes in school sports by Eric Neugeboren and Rocio Hernandez

It could conflict with Nevada’s Equal Rights Amendment.

As NV lawmakers speed toward red light camera law, civil rights groups want to pump the brakes by Michael Lyle, Nevada Current

Las Vegas Metro, like Gatsby, believes in the green light.

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Takeaways from paid family leave hearing

You can read more in a previous Behind the Bar edition here, but here’s what we learned from a hearing Wednesday on AB388, the closely watched bill that would require public and private employers to provide 12 weeks of paid leave for the birth of a child or other family or medical reasons:

• How many people would it affect?
  • Assm. Selena La Rue Hatch (D-Reno), the bill sponsor, said that the bill could affect about 1 million Nevadans — about one-third of the state’s total population.
  • She added that it would only affect 4 percent of registered businesses in the state because almost all businesses have less than 50 workers, the cutoff before the law takes effect.
• How much would people receive?
  • People making less than about $57,000 annually would receive their full paycheck while on leave, while those making more than that but less than about $78,000 would earn 60 percent of their paycheck. 
  • People making more than $78,000 would still be eligible, but would not receive more than 60 percent of a roughly $78,000 salary.
    • “If someone is making $2 million a year, they’re going to get a very small percentage of their paycheck,” La Rue Hatch said during the hearing.
• Who supported it?
  • Many progressive groups and Nevada unions supported the bill.
  • The hearing also saw emotional testimony, including from one person who was the lone survivor of a nine casualty car crash and now needs frequent support to complete daily tasks, and another who became her husband’s caretaker after he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
• Who opposed it?
  • As expected, the business community opposed the bill, saying it places undue burdens on employers.
    • “Expanding paid family leave will disproportionately impact small businesses, currently affected by inflation and supply chain disruptions,” said Ann Silver, the CEO of the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce. “When key employees are out for extended periods, small businesses struggle to maintain operations and meet customer demand.”
• What did lawmakers think?
  • No committee vote was taken, but legislators asked questions including whether high-wage earners could be excluded from the paid leave requirement (La Rue Hatch said she was open to changes), and whether other states have adopted the same policy (13 other states and Washington, D.C., have mandatory paid family leave policies, but the specifics differ).
  • Elizabeth Ray, a governor’s office spokesperson, said Wednesday that the governor would have to see the final text of the legislation before deciding whether he would support it.

— Eric Neugeboren

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 Keeping Tabs

🧑‍⚖️ Changes to election lawsuits venue? — Most major lawsuits affecting elections or state laws start in Carson City state court under Nevada law. But under AB490, sponsored by the Assembly Committee on Judiciary, these cases could be heard in any “qualified district court,” defined as those with at least three judges and electronic access to hearings and filings. Carson City’s court has only two judges and infamously does not have electronic access to filings, but improvements are expected next year.

💸 Republicans say nay on protecting wages from debt collection — SB142, which would raise the amount of wages protected from certain debt collectors from $400 to $850, passed Monday along party lines in the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, not everyone was on board with Sen. Fabian Doñate’s (D-Las Vegas) bill. Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks) called the dollar amounts protected “excessive” and said people should be held “financially responsible to pay their bills.”

👪 More oversight over foster care placements — Nevada’s struggling foster care system has long sent children out of state through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children — a process many children's mental health advocates described as flawed. But AB518, heard Wednesday, calls for several revisions to that compact, including establishing an oversight commission and, perhaps most notably, having receiving states approve the placement of a child before they are sent there. 

— Isabella Aldrete, Eric Neugeboren

Looking Ahead

• Thursday, April 3, 4 p.m.: Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) is presenting AJR14 in the Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee. The resolution condemns the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and denounces President Donald Trump’s pardons of rioters.

Days until: 

• First committee passage deadline: 9
• First house passage deadline: 20
• Sine die: 61

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And to ease you into the weekend, a few social media posts that caught our eye: 

• X: Help wanted.
• Instagram: Happy April Fools’ Day!
• Instagram: It was dill-ightful pickle day! 

We’ll see you next week.

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