The Nevada Legislatures’ 83rd regular session saw the death of a bill that would have brought a movie studio campus to Summerlin and workforce development programs, as well as the death of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s “Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act” that would have strengthened penalties for retail theft, DUIs and crime on the Strip. 

Meanwhile the Democratic majority in both houses and the Republican governor were able to compromise on a bill that both expands ballot drop boxes and requires voter ID at the polls, a Republican priority long criticized as disenfranchising by voting rights groups. 

According to a statement from Assembly Democrats spokesman Leonel Villalobos, Democrats believed a voter ID ballot initiative is already “almost certain” to pass its second round of votes in 2026. (The initiative passed with 73.2% of the vote in 2024.) The spokesman cited concerns about implementation of the potential law and educating voters in time for the 2028 presidential primary.

“It’s important that this be implemented in a thoughtful, methodical way that makes it as easy as possible for Nevada voters to satisfy ID requirements,” Villalobos said. 

Some legislation that did make it through the session will inevitably fall victim to Lombardo’s veto pen. He vetoed a record 75 bills in 2023 and has already nixed 48 this year as of press time. 

That early batch of vetoes included bills that would have protected gender-affirming health care providers, plus a pair of gun reform bills that would have prevented people convicted of hate crimes from owning a firearm and those under 21 from owning a semiautomatic shotguns and rifles. 

Here is how the Legislature addressed three important Nevada issues in the 2025 session. 

HEALTH CARE

With cuts to Medicaid all but guaranteed in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Nevada health officials have warned of losses in federal funding. According to a recent report from Kaiser Family Foundation, 97,000 enrolled Nevadans stand to lose health care coverage as a result of cuts to Medicaid currently being weighed in the U.S. Senate. When combined with a shortage of health professionals throughout the state, the consequences of these potential federal cuts could be disastrous. 

With that uncertainty playing out in the background, lawmakers still were able to pass meaningful legislation to improve the state’s health care landscape. They initiated a sweeping change to the makeup of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, opting to split it into the Department of Human Services and the Nevada Health Authority. In his January State of the State address, Lombardo said the move would increase efficiency and lower costs.

The emphasis on Nevada’s provider workforce was especially evident in Lombardo’s approval of bills that would allow expedited limited licensing for foreign physicians, create new avenues for medical students through a provisional licensing system, enter a licensure agreement that allows physical therapists with out-of-state credentials to practice in Nevada and streamline operations through an expanded state health database. 

The governor, however, was unable to deliver on his goal to increase funding for graduate medical education residency programs, which health care experts say is a main reason for medical students leaving the state to get their education and work elsewhere. 

Lombardo notably signed the Right to Contraception Act, which protects against a state or local government burdening access to contraceptive measures, including fertility drugs and family planning. 

At press time, Lombardo had yet to act on bill that would protect access to reproductive treatments like in vitro fertilization, and another that would cap the price of insulin for those on private insurance to $35 per month.

EDUCATION

Nevada’s status as one of the worst states in the country for education was a major focal point of the 2023 session, with legislators voting in favor of a then-record-breaking $12 billion budget. This year’s allocation of $12.9 billion further ups the ante. 

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro ushered her amended Senate Bill 460 past both chambers with a unanimous Senate tally and just four opposition votes in the Assembly. She compromised with Lombardo on a bill that calls for more transparency and accountability from school administrators while expanding access to state-funded pre-K programs and allocating more state funds to charter schools, a Lombardo priority. 

Cannizzaro’s pre-K provisions set aside more than $100 million for early childhood literacy and programming, while Lombardo’s charter school provisions include $7 million to provide “children trapped in underperforming schools transportation to attend the school of their choice,” Lombardo wrote in a statement. His charter school advocacy extended to Assembly Bill 398, which raises Nevada charter school teacher salaries to match public school pay raises implemented last session.

Other notable bills that have already earned the governor’s signature include one that would allow the Commission on Professional Standards in Education to streamline the state licensure process for teachers, addressing the state’s longstanding teacher shortage, and another requiring school boards to adopt cell phone usage policies for students.

HOUSING

Nevada also lags in developing its affordable housing stock as low-income renters continue to face a shortage of options at a time when rental rates continue to rise nationwide. According to the National Low Income Housing Association, the state ranks last in the availability of affordable housing options, with just 17 affordable rental homes available for every 100 extremely low-income renter households (earning 30% or less of area median income).

In a statement after the session concluded, Lombardo said hisNevada Housing Access and Attainability Act, which passed the Assembly unanimously before the Senate approved it by a 15-6 margin late on June 2, “removes bureaucratic red tape, invests in our communities, expedites housing development and energizes the effort to create more inventory at more affordable prices.”

The plan creates a $133 million “attainable housing fund” to support projects and provide downpayment assistance for tenants who earn up to 150% of their local median income. 

Meanwhile, the governor vetoed other housing reform bills that would have held landlords accountable for not providing adequate livable conditions, automatically sealed eviction records and created a rent stabilization program for seniors. 

A bill that would have limited corporations to buying no more than 100 homes in a calendar year died along a party-line vote with Republicans voting against it. 

Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!