(The Center Square) – Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s housing bill passed the house committee of Commerce and Labor on Friday, but with some major changes.
First introduced March 25, Assembly Bill 540 has passed its first hurdle on the long journey to becoming law. Despite a shortfall in state revenue, the affordable housing bill was passed out of committee on the legislator’s deadline for bills to pass their second committee.
“It’s my hope that every Nevadan will be able to realize the dream of home ownership,” Lombardo said at a press conference for the bill’s announcement. AB 540 is one of five bills the governor can typically propose in a legislative session, and the first to pass its committee.
Lombardo’s bill initially proposed $250 million in state funds for state projects, aimed at building more affordable housing to bring down prices.
While 2025 saw housing prices retreat from all-time highs in 2024, they still remain high and have pushed over half of voters to see housing affordability as a top three issue in the state. One in three voters have also considered leaving the state to find cheaper options.
Another report from the UNLV found that the Las Vegas Valley has been lagging on building houses for the last 15 years.
The $200 million set aside in the original bill to help build affordable housing projects has been chopped down to $150 million. While the bill has received relative bipartisan support, the cut likely comes as a result of the projected $191 million shortfall in the state’s revenue, largely tied to the anticipated impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
If the refreshed version of AB 540 is passed, state funds set aside for affordable housing projects would be matched by the housing developers in construction projects, in what Lombardo pitched as a project that would bring in $1 billion to the state.
Among other amendments, the Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor added that projects using the bill’s funds would have to pay workers on the “prevailing wage,” meaning in line with wages for other skilled workers in the region. Labor groups had overwhelmingly supported this amendment.
Early bipartisan support for the bill should give supporters some optimism about it becoming law.
