LAKE TAHOE, Nev. – Over 600 bills landed on Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo’s desk after passing through the 2025 Nevada Legislature. The Governor vetoed 87 of those, signing the remaining 518 bills into law. There were at least four bills proposed in the Nevada Legislature directly related to the Lake Tahoe region. Of those four, two passed all rungs and will take effect this year. The other two did not make it out of the session before it adjourned on June 3.

More funds for Lake Tahoe

One of the bills successfully making its way through the legislature and Governor’s office is Senate Bill 83, which sent $10.5 million to Tahoe through the Lake Tahoe Basin Act. The act has become a routine legislative method of funding Nevada’s portion of the Environmental Improvement Program which has implemented environmental projects in the Tahoe Basin since 1997.

The bill originally requested $19 million, but an amendment reduced the amount to the $10.5 million due to circumstances related to Van Sickle Bi-State Park.

This round of funding will go towards the Sand Harbor master plan, forest health and sensitive wildlife species monitoring projects, as well as water quality projects in the Incline Village and Kahle Drive areas.

The bill took effect July 1.

For previous reporting and more information on SB83, read the Tribune’s article, titled, This bill has been hitting nearly every Nevada legislature since 2009: Why it’s vital for Lake Tahoe

Making roads safer in Lake Tahoe

Another successful bill is Senate Bill 426 which establishes an act creating the Lake Tahoe Basin Scenic Byway Corridor Recreation Safety Zone. The zone is intended to make major roadways in the basin safer, reduce congestion, and crack down on illegal parking.

The zone incorporates any portion of U.S. Highway 50, Nevada State Route 28, Nevada State Route 431 and Nevada State Route 207 that is in the Lake Tahoe region and directly connected to a recreational destination, or has already been designated a Scenic Byway.

The bill allows the Nevada Department of Transportation and local law enforcement agencies to work together to implement traffic control and calming measures, public parking, parking restrictions, and to issue fees for violations.

Parking and violation fees must cycle back to the efforts within the zone.

The act takes effect Oct. 1.

An attempt to reduce plastic water bottle litter

A senate bill attempting to prohibit the sale of certain plastic water bottles in Nevada-Lake Tahoe communities passed the senate. However, Senate Bill 324 died in the assembly after not getting a hearing in the Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee, a step the bill would have taken before getting its vote on the assembly floor.

That may not be the last time the Nevada Legislature sees such a bill. There are plans to bring the concept back at the next session.

Noa Banayan, Government Affairs Manager with the League to Save Lake Tahoe, worked with the bill’s primary sponsor, Senator Melanie Scheible, on proposing the bill this session.

Although it isn’t a new concept to Tahoe with the water bottle ban in South Lake Tahoe and Truckee, Banayan said it was new in Nevada.

“New ideas just take time to permeate and to soften,” Banayan told the Tribune. “The fact that it made it as far as it did this session is a win to me and more than I expected.”

The league plans on educating stakeholders and laying the groundwork for another bill in the 2027 legislative session.

The organization, which conducts beach cleanups, monitoring and litter data tracking, points to how essential the bill is for the region.

“This is a problem and it’s a growing problem,” Banayan says.

For previous reporting and more information on SB324, read the Tribune’s article, titled, Plastic water bottles could get banned on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe with senate bill

An attempt to introduce business improvement districts

Senate Bill 420 proposed establishing business improvement districts in the Nevada portion of Lake Tahoe and went through two Senate Government Affairs committee hearings, but never saw a vote on the Nevada Senate floor before the session adjourned. However, the bill was declared exempt from the rules that typically cause a bill to die in the legislature.

Business improvement districts are areas where businesses within the boundary agree to pay or self-assess a percentage of their business. Those funds then go towards projects agreed upon by the district.

Business improvement districts, although newly proposed on the Nevada side, are not new to Lake Tahoe. The North Lake Tahoe Tourism Business Improvement District, within California-Tahoe boundaries has been around since 2021.

For previous reporting and more information on SB420, read the Tribune’s article, titled, Nevada Senate bill offers avenue to develop funding locally in Tahoe communities