Titus calls to remove provision to sell Clark County public lands from reconciliation package
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., filed an amendment in the GOP House reconciliation bill to scrap part of a provision to sell Nevada’s public land that had been put forward by fellow Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei.
Earlier this month, Amodei, R-Nev., led the House in putting forward an amendment to the giant funding package that would sell off more than 93,000 acres of public land — including 65,000 acres in Clark County — in Nevada, where over 80 percent of land is owned by the federal government. The amendment prioritizes that the land would be used for housing and economic development.
Nevada’s congressional Democrats complained that under the amendment pushed by Amodei, proceeds from Nevada’s future land sales would not go to the Silver State as has been the practice, and would instead go to the federal government.
Titus posted to X on Sunday night that she filed an amendment to strip the Nevada public lands provision from the bill, “because we need to work together on a plan for responsible growth and keep $ from land sales in our state to support education and conservation.”
Her amendment specifically calls to remove the Clark County portion of Amodei’s proposal. It would keep the portion of Lyon County and Washoe County proposal in place.
“This Republican budget includes a massive land grab in Southern Nevada to pay for tax breaks for the rich,” Titus said in a Monday statement.
She said there are no provisions in Amodei’s amendment for setting aside lands for conservation, and she said the lands proposed for sale would require expensive infrastructure investments since they’re far from urban areas, which she said Nevada taxpayers would be forced to bear, and would strain water resources.
“Retaining the Amodei amendment in this legislation would make a bad bill even worse,” she said. “I intend to do everything I can to stop this rip-off that benefits no one in Southern Nevada.”
In response, Amodei said the lands bill will bring growth to Clark County, and there are employees who need housing and business people who need places to do business.
He also said the sequestration only allowed for matters relating to the budget, not conservation. Amodei said all land sales in Clark County would still be fully subject to review by the National Environmental Policy Act and local planning and zoning commissions. And if there’s not enough water for a proposed project, then that project wouldn’t be approved, he said.
“Nobody’s developing a square inch without the approval of the Clark County Commission,” Amodei said in a Monday phone interview.
Amodei said he respects that Titus disagrees with him, but he doesn’t think she speaks for everybody in Clark County.
“It’ll affect the whole state,” he said. “I just hope that what we’re not seeing here is a pretty thinly veiled attempt by some to basically say Clark County is not open for business, and we have a no-growth policy.”
Titus’ amendment will be considered later this week during the House Rules Committee’s consideration of the Republican budget, which is scheduled for 1 a.m. Wednesday, according to Titus’ office.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
