A bill requiring daily room cleaning in all Nevada hotel rooms may be put to bed before even receiving a hearing.
In a social media post on X, formerly Twitter, late Wednesday evening, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo wrote the proposal was “no different than the law that was repealed in the last session on a bipartisan basis.”
He said he didn’t see a good public policy reason to reinstate COVID-era room cleaning requirements.
“I encourage the Legislature to disregard the bill because I will not sign it,” the governor wrote.
The announcement marks the first bill the governor has said he will veto and followed Lombardo’s first public statement Monday about his stance on vetoing legislation this session. In that statement, Lombardo said he would only sign legislation that protects and expands school choice opportunities.
The message portends a high potential for vetoes in this legislative session. In 2023, Lombardo vetoed 75 bills — a record-breaking number for any single session.
Sen. Lori Rogich (R-Las Vegas) introduced the room cleaning legislation, SB360, in February. She told The Nevada Independent in an interview Feb. 4 that she was introducing the measure to address the illicit cannabis market.
Rogich did not immediately respond to a request for comment via a phone call.
It’s illegal to consume cannabis outside of a private residence or a cannabis consumption lounge; the legal industry has blamed its flagging revenue numbers on lack of enforcement of a sizable unregulated market.
In 2023, Culinary Workers Union Local 226 fiercely opposed the passage of SB441, a bipartisan measure supported by the resort industry that ended daily room cleaning mandates initially implemented during the pandemic.
During months of negotiations with more than 50 Strip and downtown resort operators that finally wrapped up in early 2024, the union reinstated daily room cleaning language into the five-year collective bargaining agreements that expire in 2028.
The Nevada Resort Association was gearing up to block the legislation while the Culinary Union sent out a statement Monday in support of the bill and thanked Rogich, who the union endorsed in last year’s election.
