Housing; Responsible, Dense Growth; and Tenant’s Rights
I’m in my mid-twenties, and I am nowhere near being a homeowner. This is not a unique experience for Gen Z. Housing prices have skyrocketed and so has the median age of home-buyers.
We need to build more housing. The questions are: how? And what kind? As we look to make affordable housing available, we need to think about the best ways to grow quickly and responsibly. Urban sprawl encroaches on fragile ecosystems, creates a strain on city utilities and other county/municipal infrastructure, and doesn’t feed a lifestyle of community-building. Denser urbanism is better on all these fronts. We need to streamline the process of building multi-family homes. These units can be built on the many vacant lots that span the valley and can be built to have green infrastructure like solar panels as well as . Whether it's through declaring a housing emergency or other means, we need to take action now, not later.
This is a fight I am eager to take to Carson, but it can’t just be up to the politicians. We need back up. Therefore, I will work to empower tenants unions and housing justice groups to organize members of the community. I will work to pass protections for these groups and ban all forms of retaliation from landlords against tenant organizing. With the right Democrats in office and people power on the ground, we can deliver rent caps, push back against corporate landlords, ensure units are habitable, and so much more!
Policy Priorities:
In-Fill Development: If you have been a resident of the Las Vegas Valley long enough, then you have noticed the many vacant lots that dot the area. As certain lawmakers and developers lobby to sell off our public lands to keep expanding our city outward, I posit that we already have ample ready to turn into housing. We need to focus on in-fill development and use the 82,000 acres of land that is already available to us.
Density Requirements along Public Transit Routes: State-level intervention is becoming more necessary and more common as we address the housing crisis, climate crisis, and affordability crisis. One of the best ways to build resilient communities built to combat these challenges are cities that invest in density and public transit. We need to prioritize developing multi-family housing around existing transit routes (as well as expanding our transit options). Massachusetts is taking decisive action with The MBTA Communities Law, and Nevada should start to make similar commitments.
Declare a Housing Emergency & Create Streamlined partnerships for Housing Projects: It’s one thing to say that we need to build more housing, it’s an entirely different thing to get it done. There are plenty of structural obstacles that have created the crisis we are in. Thus, we need to be bold and innovative in our approach. I suggest declaring a housing emergency and temporarily endowing the state with specialized powers to aid in the fast-track construction of housing projects.
Utilize Union Labor for Housing Construction: To build this housing, we should be using well-paid union labor through project labor agreements (PLAs).
Non-Market Housing: Housing should be a human right, yet we have allowed shelter to become a cash cow for the wealthy few. Scarcity continues to be an opportunity for profit, not a community challenge to collectively overcome. It’s time to reign in the corporate forces that want to push our budgets to their limit, and a key part of that is building non-market housing. By building enough housing units that won’t hike up our rent over time, the housing options in the private market will have to compete at a much more affordable price point. This is a long term solution, however, and must be done in coordination with rent stabilization policies to relieve tenants in the short term.
Encourage Partnerships with Community-Oriented Housing organizations like community land trusts and non-profit Co-ops: New development is not helpful if it feeds harmful systems like gentrification that price-out original residents. We need to think outside the box and work with organizations that are focused on protecting original tenants and keeping costs down in the long-term.
Create a financial institution for sustainable housing projects: Our legislators understand that big societal change usually requires a big amount of capital. This is why we have to be steadfast in our attempts to grow Nevada’s revenue. However, there are other tactics we should use to get the capital for critical investments we need. For environmental projects, our legislature created an independent financial institution that could help provide loans and funding for green infrastructure called Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF). We should consider doing something similar for affordable housing.
Regulate Corporate Home Ownership
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 391: This bill, sponsored by senator Neal, would have limited the number of units that could be purchased by corporate landlords.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 242: This bill, sponsored by senator Flores, would prohibit corporate landlords from purchasing homes until they have been on the market for 30 days.
Mitigate Rising Rent Prices
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 280: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Jauregui, would have expanded tenant protections, most notably by capping rent increases at 5% until Dec 31st, 2026 for tenants over 62 and or tenants who rely on social security benefits. This bill passed but was vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 289: This bill, sponsored by the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, would allow local governments to enact their own rent control policies.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →SB 151: This bill, sponsored by senator Taylor, would cap rent increases for month-to-month rentals in manufactured home parks.
Evictions
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 201: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Roth, would expand the circumstances for eviction records to be automatically sealed, including when a tenant wins a case or when it’s dismissed. The bill creates a rebuttable assumption that sealing is “in the interest of justice” unless the landlord proves otherwise with clear and convincing evidence. This bill passed but was vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 283: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Carter, would reform summary eviction law. Our current system allows many evictions to occur without judicial oversight and many tenants unaware of their legal rights. This bill would require that landlords file an affidavit of complaint, serve tenants with a court-stamped complaint and summons, and wait for the tenants response before a hearing is scheduled or an eviction is ordered. This bill passed but was vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
Tenant Rights
From the 83rd Legislative Session →AB 223: This bill, sponsored by assembly member Considine, would enhance tenant protections by expanding the habitability requirements that landlords must meet. It would expedite maintenance relief, prohibit retaliation, and increase penalties for unlawful actions by landlords. This bill passed but was vetoed by Governor Lombardo.
