A bipartisan group of members of Congress has successfully passed legislation aimed at increasing the nation’s housing supply by reducing some federal regulations, streamlining environmental reviews, accelerating the homebuilding process, and limiting the ability of large corporations to purchase single-family homes.

For Nevada, where housing affordability continues to be one of the state’s most pressing challenges, these conversations are especially important.

Nevada has experienced rapid population growth while the supply of affordable homes has struggled to keep pace. Many families spend a significant share of their income on housing, and rising home prices and rents have made it increasingly difficult for first-time homebuyers, essential workers, seniors, and young families to remain in the communities where they live and work.

While increasing the housing supply is an important step, this proposal alone will not solve Nevada’s housing challenges. Our state also faces rising construction costs, a shortage of skilled workers, increasing insurance premiums, limited infrastructure in fast-growing communities, and wages that have not kept pace with the cost of housing.

Nevada’s housing needs are also unique. With more than 80 percent of the state’s land managed by the federal government, conversations about where and how housing is built often intersect with public land policy, water availability, transportation, and responsible community planning. Expanding housing should not come at the expense of Nevada’s treasured public lands or the long-term sustainability of our communities.

Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) believes everyone deserves access to safe, stable, and affordable housing. We support policies that increase the supply of housing while protecting renters, encouraging thoughtful land use, strengthening tenant protections, investing in affordable and workforce housing, and ensuring that homes remain places for families—not simply investment opportunities.

Housing is about more than buildings. It is about dignity, stability, and creating communities where every neighbor has the opportunity to thrive.

The ELCA Witness in Society federal advocacy office is tracking a busy and consequential season in Washington, with urgent attention to hunger, health care, housing, immigration, education, voting rights, disaster recovery, international food aid, care for creation and peace.

For Lutherans in Nevada these are not abstract federal debates. They touch food pantries, border communities, congregations, campus ministries, shelters, public schools and neighbors struggling to meet basic needs.

A central concern remains the 2026 Farm Bill and the future of SNAP, the nation’s largest anti-hunger program. ELCA advocacy staff are monitoring congressional action as lawmakers debate nutrition, agriculture, rural development, conservation and international food aid. New federal requirements and cost shifts could make it harder for states to administer SNAP and harder for eligible families to access food assistance. As Lutheran ministries report rising need, LEAN joins the call for a Farm Bill that supports both farmers and hungry families.

The team also raises concern about efforts to tighten access to Medicaid, TANF and other anti-poverty supports. These programs serve many of the poorest families in our communities, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. In Arizona, where AHCCCS is a lifeline for many families, federal choices that affect health care access deserve close attention.

Housing is another major federal priority. ELCA advocacy has supported bipartisan housing legislation that would expand affordability and housing supply, renew rural housing programs, update manufactured housing policy and strengthen disaster recovery. Congress has also advanced the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act as part of a larger housing package, which would help make Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding more reliable and timely after disasters. For Arizona communities facing housing instability, extreme heat and disaster risk, these investments matter.

ELCA advocacy is also tracking changes in education, civil rights enforcement and voting access. Proposed federal restructuring could affect protections for students with disabilities and historically marginalized students. Meanwhile, efforts to make voter registration and participation more difficult remain a concern, especially for women, rural voters, low-income communities, marginalized communities and members of Tribal Nations.

Immigration and refugee policy remain urgent as well. ELCA advocacy continues to raise concerns about large increases in immigration enforcement funding without sufficient protections, oversight or accountability. For Arizona Lutherans, this is close to home. Border communities, immigrant families, asylum seekers and congregations engaged in accompaniment ministry know that humane policy, due process and family unity are matters of faith and neighbor love.

Internationally, ELCA advocacy continues to engage food aid, humanitarian response, global health and peace. The Senate Farm Bill draft would extend vital international food aid programs, including Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition. ELCA advocacy is also monitoring global health response capacity and the humanitarian impact of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

Taken together, these wide-ranging topics remind us that budgets, agency decisions and legislation are moral documents. They reveal whose needs are seen, whose burdens are shared and whose voices are heard. LEAN’s public witness is rooted not in partisanship, but in love of neighbor — especially neighbors who are hungry, unhoused, uninsured, displaced, excluded, disabled, endangered or unheard.

As Congress moves through the coming months, we encourage Arizona Lutherans to stay informed, pray for public servants, contact members of Congress, attend town halls, request meetings during district work periods and share what our congregations and ministries are seeing in local communities. Faithful advocacy is one way we live out our baptismal calling in public life: seeking justice, peace and the well-being of all.

Happy July, Nevada!

While many of us are thinking about barbecues, road trips, and staying cool, 24 new Nevada laws officially took effect on July 1!

Some of the changes include:
More opportunities to build backyard casitas (ADUs)
New school cellphone policies
Expanded behavioral health initiatives
Protections related to Nevada’s extreme heat
Consumer and homeowner protections
…and much more!

Most people don’t realize it, but laws passed during the legislative session don’t usually take effect right away. July 1 is when many of those ideas become reality.

This is a reminder that advocacy works. Every phone call, testimony, meeting with a legislator, email, and vote can help shape policies that affect our families and communities.

At LEAN, we’ll be breaking down these new laws over the coming weeks and exploring what they mean through the lens of faith and the common good.

Which new law are you most interested in learning more about?

One congregation can:

• Feed hungry neighbors.
• Advocate for affordable housing.
• Support local schools.
• Welcome immigrants and refugees.
• Care for God’s creation.
• Encourage civic participation.

Now imagine what hundreds of congregations can do together.

When people of faith join together, communities are transformed.

God is already at work. We are invited to LEAN in

As Lutherans and People of faith, we are called to care for creation while also caring for our neighbors. A recent study reminds us that conversations about renewable energy do not have to become a false binary. We do not have to be stuck in an either-or choice between agriculture and clean energy. Instead, they invite thoughtful stewardship that balances food production, healthy ecosystems, thriving rural communities, and the transition to cleaner sources of power. Good public policy seeks the common good by listening to local communities while making decisions grounded in facts rather than fear.

Key Takeaways:

• Solar development is using very little prime farmland.  A new analysis found that utility-scale solar occupies less than one-tenth of 1% of America’s prime farmland, challenging the perception that solar energy is a major driver of farmland loss. 

• The Mountain West has the lowest impact. Among all U.S. regions, the West uses the smallest share of prime farmland for utility-scale solar, an important finding for Nevada and neighboring states as renewable energy continues to expand. 

• Community concerns still matter. The report’s authors emphasize that these findings should not dismiss local concerns about individual solar projects. Responsible development should continue to consider impacts on rural communities, wildlife, public lands, agriculture, and local character. 

• Context is important. According to the analysis, golf courses occupy roughly 2.5 times more prime farmland nationwide than utility-scale solar, providing perspective on how different land uses compare. 

• Energy demand is growing. As electricity demand rises, including from data centers and economic growth, the West will need additional energy resources. Solar is expected to remain part of that conversation alongside conservation, transmission planning, and responsible land stewardship.