Lawmakers expected to introduce housing bill in Nevada special session

CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers nearing the final act of the special legislative session have yet to vote on a bill meant to attract film studios to Southern Nevada, but a midnight session Wednesday passed one notable measure to alter portions of the state’s criminal justice laws.

And now lawmakers are expected to have a new piece of legislation to consider: a bill revived from the regular session that would regulate corporations’ ability to buy up homes in the state.

State senators amended and passed Gov. Joe Lombardo’s wide-sweeping crime bill — Assembly Bill 4 — during a floor session that began just after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. The amendment added sections that would require detention facilities to maintain a list of each person held at the facility and the name at which the person is held and would prohibit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from entering schools without a warrant.

The Republican governor vetoed a bill limiting ICE in schools that passed during the regular session.

The bill now returns to the Assembly for the house to consider the new amendment.

Senators also introduced a new bill that would allow counties to create a controversial court program around the Strip, but immediately tabled it. The bill language was not available early Wednesday, but the digest showed similar language to sections of AB 4.

Of the 17 bills and resolutions introduced in the session, nine have passed both houses and soon head to the governor’s desk. They include: changes to traffic penalties in school safety zones; investments in the state’s cybersecurity infrastructure; the establishment of a state public assistance program based on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and others like it; and additional funding for the relocation of households in the Windsor Park neighborhood of North Las Vegas, among other measures.

There was little public-facing activity in the Senate on Tuesday, as lawmakers spent much of the day in closed-door negotiations. State Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said he has backed a petition to alter the governor’s special session agenda to include the corporate homeownership bill. The secretary of state’s office, which received the petition, received it after 5 p.m. that day.

The legislation comes from Senate Bill 391, which failed in the regular session. It was proposed by Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, and would prevent corporate investors from purchasing more than 100 residential units in a year.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X. Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.