Governor Joe Lombardo and legislative Republicans have once again proven they are more concerned with their bottomline than the wellbeing of Nevadans.
A recent deep dive from the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported at least six Republican legislators, including Senator Carrie Buck (SD-5) and Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama (AD-2), who is also running for Congress in Nevada’s Third District, voted against capping rent increases for seniors, establishing tenant protections and more while owning rental properties themselves – voting in favor of their own financial gain at a time when Nevada is experience record homelessness, skyrocketing rent increase, and a shortage of affordable housing.
It’s no surprise to see Lombardo chose to cater to the billionaire slumlord who bankrolled his gubernatorial candidacy by vetoing the housing legislation passed by Democrats, with this being just the latest instance of him prioritizing special interests over Nevada families.
One thing’s for certain: Nevada deserves better than corrupt Lombardo and his cronies.
Read more below:
Las Vegas Review Journal: Nevada legislators with rental properties voted against bills helping tenants
December 3, 2023
- At least six Nevada legislators who own rental properties voted against bills affecting rentals — from capping rent increases for seniors to increasing transparency on rental leases — prompting concerns about special interests’ influence on government.
- The four different pieces of legislation passed the Democratic majority Legislature along mostly party lines, although they were ultimately vetoed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who later received criticism for rejecting the bills related to tenants rights and eviction reform.
- Democrats say the legislation would have eased the Silver State’s affordable housing shortage, curbed eviction rates and increased transparency in rental agreements, while Republican legislators — some of whom were landlords themselves — argue the bills would have stymied the development of affordable housing units and created onerous burdens on landlords.
- Nevada’s citizen legislature is made up of legislators who either have jobs that allow them to step away for six months every other year or are retired, said Ben Iness, coalition coordinator for the Nevada Housing Justice Alliance.
- “What that means is that when we get these really promising, exciting, urgent and crucial tenant protection bills, that there’s this conflict of interest where they just kind of hit these walls,” Iness said. “It’s a weird conflict and dynamic.”
- Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Henderson, who owns Stone Premier Properties with his wife and has nearly 80 units, according to his financial disclosure, said a conflict of interest arises if a legislator votes for something that has a direct nexus to their profitability without affecting other people in their profession.
- A shortage of affordable housing continues to plague the Silver State. Las Vegas households must make at least $113,186 annually to afford a mortgage, according to Redfin, an online real estate brokerage, while the average annual household income is around $86,000.
- According to their most recent financial disclosures from the beginning of 2023, there are nine Republican legislators who either own rental properties or whose spouses do: Stone, Heidi Kasama, Gregory Koenig, Rich DeLong, Melissa Hardy, Danielle Gallant, Carrie Buck, Alexis Hansen and Ira Hansen.
- The Nevada State Democratic Party accused Lombardo of favoring developers who funded his gubernatorial campaign over the best interests of Nevadans by vetoing the legislation.
- “It’s despicable that in the middle of an affordable housing shortage, Lombardo and legislative Republicans denied Nevadans relief from skyrocketing housing costs so that many of them could reap the financial benefits,” party spokesperson Stephanie Justice said in a statement.
- Lokken, the political science professor, echoed those concerns and said this is reflective of too much influence from private interests — from mining to gaming to developers — in state government.
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