Nevada families know all too well what it feels like when the cost of living climbs faster than their paychecks.
Housing is one of the biggest headaches. Rents keep going up, home prices are out of reach for many young families, and seniors on fixed incomes are being squeezed.
This week, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto wrote a self-serving column in the Reno Gazette-Journal claiming “more affordable housing is coming to Nevada.”
On the surface, it sounds good. But when you dig a little deeper, it’s clear this is more partisan spin than solution.
Blaming Trump, Ignoring Biden
One of the first things Cortez Masto did in her op-ed was blame President Donald Trump’s tariffs for rising construction costs.
She says his trade policies made wood, steel, and aluminum more expensive.
What she doesn’t say is that most of the price hikes came after President Biden took office, when inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in 2022 and interest rates jumped above 7%.
Republicans supported Trump’s tariffs because they stopped China from dumping cheap steel and aluminum, which protected American jobs.
Blaming tariffs for Nevada’s housing shortage is political theater. Inflation, red tape, and government overspending under Biden have been far bigger drivers of the problem.
Federal Handouts Aren’t a Fix
Cortez Masto brags that she pressured the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco into putting $30 million into Nevada housing projects this year.
That sounds like a big number, but in reality, it’s a drop in the bucket.
Nevada is short about 78,000 affordable rental units statewide, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Thirty million dollars doesn’t come close to filling that gap.
Even worse, these funds come from taxpayer-subsidized programs that do little to address why homes are so expensive in the first place.
More bureaucracy and grant programs just add layers of red tape without fixing the root problems.
The Real Roadblock: Red Tape
Cortez Masto praises the “ROAD to Housing Act” as a bipartisan win. But here’s the truth: the bill is still stuck in Congress.
Even if it passes, it focuses on expanding grants and creating new programs instead of cutting government red tape.
Nevada builders face endless delays from zoning restrictions, environmental reviews, and union mandates that drive up costs.
Those rules are written and protected by the same Democrat politicians now claiming credit for fixing the crisis.
Until the state and federal government clear the path for more building, Nevada families will keep paying the price.
Manufactured Homes: A Missed Opportunity
The senator points out that about 5% of homes in Nevada are manufactured homes and pitches her bill to expand grants for those communities.
Manufactured housing can be a real solution because it’s cheaper and quicker to build.
But again, the problem isn’t a lack of federal programs – it’s that local zoning laws and government bias block these homes from being built in many places.
Instead of piling on new grants, lawmakers should be rolling back zoning restrictions and letting families choose affordable manufactured homes without government interference.
What Nevada Really Needs
Nevadans don’t need more speeches, press releases, or photo ops. They need real solutions. That means:
- Cutting zoning rules that choke off new housing construction.
- Lowering taxes and fees on builders so more homes get built.
- Allowing manufactured homes and modular housing without red tape.
- Stopping Wall Street investors and foreign buyers from scooping up local homes and turning them into short-term rentals.
As Gov. Joe Lombardo has said, the focus should be on letting families live, work, and raise kids in the communities they love – not pushing Washington programs that barely scratch the surface.
Cortez Masto’s op-ed is classic Washington spin.
She takes credit for small federal handouts, blames Trump for problems caused by Biden’s inflation, and calls a stalled bill “historic.”
Meanwhile, Nevada families are left struggling to find affordable homes.
Republicans believe the answer isn’t more government programs. It’s unleashing the free market, cutting red tape, and letting Nevadans build the homes they need.
Until Democrats admit that their policies are the real roadblocks, “more affordable housing” will remain more of a talking point than a reality.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
