Lee Urges Amodei to Withdraw Proposal to Send NV Public Land Sales Proceeds to Federal Government for Billionaire Tax Breaks Rather Than Staying in NV

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) sent a letterto Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) urging him to immediately withdraw his reckless Clark County public land sale proposal that sends proceeds of Nevada public land sales to Washington to pay for House Republicans’ tax-breaks-for-billionaires bill.

For decades, federal law has ensured that proceeds from land sales in southern Nevada stay in Nevada. Amodei’s proposal — which was added to Republican-led legislation last week without the consent or collaboration of the Clark County Commission or any member of Nevada’s federal delegation elected by the voters of Clark County — would instead send these proceeds to the federal government.

Lee’s initial response to Amodei’s dead of night surprise amendment can be found here.

“Prior to the surprise introduction of your 33-page proposal, you failed to collaborate or consult with — or even alert — any member of Nevada’s federal delegation elected by the voters of Clark County,” wrote Congresswoman Lee. “Further, you acted against the wishes — and without the consent — of Clark County itself, a fact that you acknowledged in real time under questioning by House Natural Resources Committee Democrats during the markup of your proposal last Tuesday night.”

Lee continued, “For decades, the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) has ensured that proceeds from the sales of federal land in Clark County stay in Nevada. Your proposal would instead send Nevada’s dollars to Washington to subsidize Republicans’ reckless spending and billionaire tax cuts.”

Full text of the letter can be found here and below: 

May 13, 2025

The Honorable Mark Amodei

United States House of Representatives

104 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Amodei:

As a member of Nevada’s congressional delegation who represents Clark County, I urge you to immediately move to strip the reckless Clark County public land sale provisions that you advanced as “pay-fors” in House Republicans’ tax-breaks-for-billionaires bill under the cover of darkness last week. 

While I have additional concerns with your proposal in full, including how the Utah provisions you included could affect the integrity and future operations of the Colorado River System, I want to underscore the following four concerns in particular, which make the Clark County provisions completely unworkable:

No Collaboration: Prior to the surprise introduction of your 33-page proposal, you failed to collaborate or consult with — or even alert — any member of Nevada’s federal delegation elected by the voters of Clark County. 

No Consent: Further, you acted against the wishes — and without the consent — of Clark County itself, a fact that you acknowledged in real time under questioning by House Natural Resources Committee Democrats during the markup of your proposal last Tuesday night. A spokesperson for the Board of County Commissioners has since reaffirmed that your proposal “does not reflect the Board’s priorities to facilitate responsible future development, especially as it relates to environmental conservation, water and public infrastructure.”

No Consistency: For decades, the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA) has ensured that proceeds from the sales of federal land in Clark County stay in Nevada. Your proposal would instead send Nevada’s dollars to Washington to subsidize Republicans’ reckless spending and billionaire tax cuts.

No Clarity: Finally, because of the last-minute, late-night introduction of your proposal — which was apparently timed at the direction of the Republican House Natural Resources Committee chairman, presumably to prevent the proposal from receiving unwanted scrutiny in the light of day — key components of the proposal are still unclear. This includes even something as basic as precisely how many acres of public land you intend to sell off.

Per recent reporting by E&E News:

While Republicans had suggested the sales would amount to a few thousand acres,

advocates and Democrats have said that in analyzing the amendment it could be 500,000 acres in total — or more.

A spokesperson for the Natural Resources Committee said they did not have exact

figures. An Amodei spokesperson explained, after this story originally published, that the amendment involved 449,174 acres but that actions involving 356,100 acres would not amount to a net change in federal ownership.

I ask that you act as quickly to remove the Clark County public land sale provisions as you acted to rashly add these provisions to Republicans’ tax-breaks-for-billionaires legislation in the first place.

The sooner that you agree to end this unfortunate — and entirely unnecessary — episode in the history of Nevada and the Nevada delegation, the better for us all.

Sincerely,

Susie Lee

Member of Congress

CC: 

The Honorable Bruce Westerman, Chairman, House Committee on Natural Resources

The Honorable Jared Huffman, Ranking Member, House Committee on Natural Resources

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