The House-passed budget bill eliminates the controversial sale of federal land to residential developers near national parks in Nevada and Utah, but tax credits for housing construction are still on the table.
The House voted 215-214 to approve the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" last week, essentially outlining a new budget for the government to cut spending and increase revenue.
The original bill sought to sell federal lands for housing development. The push drew fire from both sides of the aisle, as well as from conservationists, anglers and hunters.
“I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back,” Rep. Mike Zinke, Republican of Montana, said in a statement.
The original draft proposed selling off a combined 450,000 acres in or near federal parks in Nevada (Gold Butte National Monument, Avi Kwa Ame National Monument and Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation) and Utah (Zion National Park, Red Mountain Wilderness and Santa Clara River Reserve).
The new bill subs in an Opportunity Zones initiative that offers tax credits to developers who build in rural communities. The first Trump administration introduced the Opportunity Zones program as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It created tax incentives for developers to build mixed-use developments — think apartment buildings or condominiums with stores and restaurants at the base — in pockets of urban cities often overlooked.
The current bill would expand the program into rural communities.
The challenge exists with the location of these sites because they sit miles away from urban centers with jobs and services, said Ken Johnson, an endowed chair of real estate and a finance professor at the University of Mississippi.
Time will be a big hurdle for projects built in rural communities — both for construction and commutes, he said. "In the short run for affordable housing, I don’t think this is how it’s going to help."
Land leases for energy production
Hundreds of thousands of acres of land will still be leased for oil production and wind turbines. The bill would call for the leasing of lands in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Alaska.
The Senate now has the bill, where it needs a majority to pass.
The federal government owns about 85%, or 61 million acres, of Nevada, according to the Legislative Counsel Bureau. It’s a similar story for Utah, where about 65%, or 35 million acres, is federally owned, based on the Bureau of Land Management.