Watch Senator Rosen’s Remarks HERE.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) went to the Senate floor to pass her Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act by unanimous consent, which was blocked by a Republican Senator. This critical legislation advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last month after it had a hearing that Senator Rosen called for.
For years, Senator Rosen has been working with a wide range of stakeholders across Washoe County to develop this comprehensive legislation. Last year, Senator Rosen unveiled a working draft of the bill and collected feedback from hundreds of Nevadans during a public comment period, which she then incorporated into this legislation that she introduced earlier this year. The bill has received the support of various local government officials, conservation advocates, and business leaders.
Below are Senator Rosen’s floor remarks as delivered:
Thank you, Madam President.
I rise today to talk about a subject you know a lot about, as we share serving the great state of Nevada. I’m here to talk about public land management in Nevada and the challenges my state, our state, is facing as communities continue to grow.
Some in this chamber may be unaware, but my state of Nevada is unique.
We have the highest percentage of land owned by the federal government.
Eighty-five percent of our state is made up of federal land. Let me repeat that: eight-five percent.
This means Nevada has to rely on federal legislation to do things like making land available to build more affordable housing, more schools, more parks, more churches, more fire stations, police departments, in every single county in Nevada.
So, think about that.
We need to pass bills here in Congress in Washington and have the President sign them into law to do local things that many other states can just have their local governments do.
And that’s why in Washoe County – the second largest county in the state – those types of everyday actions, well, they just haven’t been taken in years. And we’re starting to feel it.
Over the last few decades, Nevada has brought in new industries and created good-paying jobs in and around Washoe County.
From Reno to Sparks, we’re creating jobs in technology, critical minerals, battery recycling, and so much more.
And this is leading to an economic and population boom that, frankly, is helping our residents prosper. But it’s also placing a strain on things like the supply of housing.
But again, because eighty-five percent of Nevada is made up of public lands, Washoe County relies on resource management plans to grow our community.
Well, sad to say this, but the current plans on the books, and you know this well, too, Madam President, they’re more than twenty years old. So, even as the population of the county has grown more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. population in the last decade, we’re using current plans over twenty years old.
As our state grows and more people move in, it’s critical that we take steps to manage responsible growth and development of our local communities so we protect our beautiful public lands, we support our Tribes and economic development alike.
Without new federal legislation, Washoe County is stuck. They’re just stuck. It can’t grow, it can’t accommodate its increasing population, and it can’t protect the spaces that people recreate or come to visit in our beautiful state.
And for the last few years, I’ve been working closely with a diverse range of local stakeholders from conservation and outdoor recreation groups, to local governments and Tribal leadership to draft a proposal that has the best balance.
You know, we released a working draft, and we took public input from Nevadans, and we developed my Truckee Meadows Public Land Management Act, or as we know it: the Washoe County Lands bill.
So, I’m going to tell you a little bit about the bill.
My bill is balanced, it’s thoughtful, it has a thoughtful approach that I’ve worked on for more than four years to do a few things. Well, we’ve got to allow for new economic development opportunities. We have to make more land available for affordable housing, this is on the top of everyone’s list. We want to protect nearly one million acres of land for recreation in our gorgeous state. We want to convey parcels to local entities for public purposes like schools and water treatment facilities. And we want to place some of our land into trust for three different Tribes in Northern Nevada.
This bill has broad, local support from Republicans and Democrats in Nevada.
I introduced the final version of this bill nearly one year ago. It’s gone through a committee hearing, it’s been marked up, and it’s been passed out of committee.
My team and I have spent years discussing this legislation with relevant committees, and for months, literally for months, we’ve been working to include this bill in a public lands package.
We’ve consistently reached out to Senators and [staff] on both sides of the aisle to get the bill passed, a bill very specific to Nevada, for the benefit of Nevadans. And we have an open door for any recommended changes to get this critical legislation across the finish line.
And yet, we still haven’t been able to get a vote here in the Senate.
And one thing I want to tell you for sure, Madam President, is I am not going to allow typical Washington gridlock like we’ve seen here to block this bill that my constituents, our constituents, are relying on for more affordable housing, for stronger communities, and for protected lands.
So today, I’m taking matters into my own hands.
I stand here today asking for my colleagues’ cooperation to support the state of Nevada, to support our ability to grow and build our communities, and protect and preserve the beauty in our great state, and support the passage of my Washoe County Lands Bill by unanimous consent.
###
