Bernard Rowe came to Nevada to find gold. When he found lithium instead, he went to work on a project that’s consumed nearly a decade of his life in the hills outside of Dyer, about 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nevada’s public land hosts mines, recreation, wildlife and renewable energy. Now, it’s being asked to pull more weight. Lawmakers at all levels and on both sides of the aisle are advocating for the release of federal land as a solution to the state’s affordable housing shortage.

President Donald Trump’s administration has pitched its fix for the growing number of borrowers, which includes ending a COVID-19 pandemic-related pause on certain payments, restricting forgiveness qualifications and emphasizing responsibilities for schools — an expectedly drastic contrast from the previous White House’s approach.

In Southern Nevada, business confidence “plunged” this quarter to its lowest level in 16 years, according to UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research. All told, local business leaders’ view of U.S. economic conditions “nosedived,” and their view of conditions in Nevada “also sank,” the center reported.

A new report from the Lied Center for Real Estate at UNLV blames under-building of new homes in Southern Nevada since the Great Recession for the housing unaffordability the region faces.

He warned that private investors are buying up the housing in Nevada, adding that “in Clark County 15% of all the residential housing is owned by hedge funds.” The estimate comes from Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas that found investors own roughly 15% of homes in the City of Las Vegas.

Loud budgeting is a personal finance trend that encourages people to be vocal about their budget and speak up when they can’t afford to spend more. It was popularized on TikTok, and it’s a way for people to avoid overspending and reduce peer pressure from friends.

The "No Tax on Tips" Act, which aims to eliminate federal taxes on tips, passed the Senate on Monday, drawing significant attention in Las Vegas, where 17% of the workforce relies on tips, according to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas's Center for Business and Economic Research.

Since 2020, Nevada’s unemployment rate has been significantly higher than the national average, even as tourism has recovered

The year 2024 served as a victory lap of sorts in the Las Vegas tourism industry’s recovery from the pandemic. Emboldened by its first-time status as the host of the Super Bowl, Las Vegas set a high mark in visitor spending for the third consecutive year, pulling in $55.1 billion from a visitor count that fell just 800,000 people shy of the 42.5 million who came here in 2019.

There’s a number of respected institutions that have weighed in on this, including UNLV’s Lied Center for Real Estate, Brookings Mountain West and Nevada Housing Coalition, Frias said. All point to the same conclusion that there’s not enough housing supply in Nevada to meet the growing demand of the growing population.

With President Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, there are few opportunities for congressional Democrats to make their mark on the federal budget.