On January 23, 2026, Joe Lombardo opted Nevada into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's tax credit for donations to private-school scholarship groups, a credit EdTrust estimates could cost the federal government up to $56 billion a year.
Lombardo praised the bill on July 3, 2025, the day of its final House vote. By KFF's estimate the law cuts Nevada's federal Medicaid funding by $8.45 billion over ten years, and in Nevada its SNAP work rules cut off food aid for about 28,000 people on May 1, 2026.
A month after his post, Lombardo said the law directed no short-term cuts, and his office did not respond when the Nevada Independent sought comment in January 2026 about the SNAP costs the law shifts to Nevada.
Joe Lombardo's Actions and Statements on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Lombardo Opted Nevada Into the Law's Federal Tax Credit for Private-School Scholarships. On January 23, 2026, Joe Lombardo announced that Nevada would take part in the federal scholarship tax credit the One Big Beautiful Bill Act created, saying: "I thank President Trump for delivering a historic federal school choice program that puts families first." Nevada is on the IRS list of states that elected to join. From the 2027 tax year, the credit repays donors dollar for dollar, up to $1,700 a person each year, for gifts to groups that pay private-school tuition, and EdTrust estimates it "could cost the federal government as much as $56 billion annually." The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy expects most eligible people not to give, in part "because private school vouchers are unpopular with the public."
- Lombardo Praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Which Cuts Nevada's Federal Medicaid Funding by $8.45 Billion. Joe Lombardo posted on July 3, 2025, the day the House gave the bill final passage: "Nevadans should be excited about the potential impacts of tax cuts, investments in small businesses and American manufacturing, and efforts to help secure our border." That statement of support covers every provision of the law. On May 21, 2026, he told KTVN 2 News of the law's Medicaid work requirement: "And I support that. I support that." KFF's allocation of the Congressional Budget Office estimate puts Nevada's loss of federal Medicaid money at $8.45 billion from 2025 to 2034, 19 percent of what the state would otherwise receive, and KFF projects the law will leave 100,000 more Nevadans uninsured in 2034. Nationally, the Congressional Budget Office found the poorest tenth of households lose about $1,200 a year under the law.
- Lombardo Said the Law Directed No Short-Term Cuts; About 28,000 Nevadans Lost SNAP Under It Nine Months Later. Joe Lombardo said of the law and Nevada Medicaid on August 4, 2025: "The bill doesn't direct any cuts in the short term." About 28,000 Nevadans lost SNAP food aid on May 1, 2026, after the law's work rules took effect; Boulder City Hospital ended inpatient care the same day with its chief citing the law; and about 5,000 lawfully present immigrants in Nevada were set to lose Medicaid starting October 1, 2026, the Nevada Current reported in July 2026.
- Lombardo Called Lower Hospital Provider-Fee Funding Among the Changes Most Harmful to Nevada, Then Praised the Law. In a February 2025 letter to congressional leaders, Joe Lombardo listed lower federal matching for hospital provider fees among the changes "most detrimental for Nevada," the Nevada Independent reported; on July 3, 2025 he wrote that "Nevadans should be excited" about the bill, which became law with limits on those provider taxes. The Nevada Health Authority projects $600 million to $800 million a year less in provider-tax-related payments to Nevada hospitals by the end of 2028, falling mostly on the urban hospitals that run the state's trauma and emergency care.
- Lombardo's Office Did Not Respond When Asked About the SNAP Costs the Law Shifts to Nevada. Joe Lombardo's office did not respond to the Nevada Independent's multiple requests for comment for its January 28, 2026 report on what the law's SNAP changes will cost Nevada. Because Nevada's payment error rate was 6.22 percent in fiscal 2025, above the law's 6 percent line, the state's Division of Social Services estimates Nevada could owe $43.8 million a year toward SNAP benefits starting in 2028.
- Lombardo's Campaign Declined a KFF Health News Interview on the Law's Medicaid Changes in July 2026. Joe Lombardo's campaign declined to make him available to KFF Health News for its July 8, 2026 report on health care and the Medicaid changes in the Nevada governor's race. Nevada's own analysis expects about 100,000 Nevadans, one in eight people on Medicaid, may be dropped during the opening two years of the law's work requirement, which begins January 1, 2027.
Joe Lombardo and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Date by Date
### July 3, 2025: Joe Lombardo Praises the Bill on the Day of Its Final House Vote
Joe Lombardo posted a statement praising the bill as the House sent it to the President, calling its tips and overtime provisions a huge win for Nevada workers.
### July 4, 2025: The Bill Becomes Law
H.R. 1 became Public Law 119-21, with provisions that take effect from 2025 through 2028.
### August 4, 2025: Joe Lombardo Says the Law Directs No Short-Term Cuts
At a ceremonial bill signing, Joe Lombardo told News 3 the law did not direct any short-term cuts to Nevada Medicaid.
### December 1, 2025: Nevada's SNAP Work-Rule Waiver Ends
Because the law allows statewide waivers of SNAP's work rules only where unemployment tops 10 percent, Nevada's waiver ended on December 1, 2025.
### January 23, 2026: Joe Lombardo Opts Nevada Into the Private-School Tax Credit
Joe Lombardo announced Nevada's participation in the law's federal scholarship tax credit.
### January 28, 2026: Joe Lombardo's Office Does Not Respond on SNAP Costs
The Nevada Independent reported that the governor's office did not respond to requests for comment about Nevada's new SNAP bills.
### May 1, 2026: Nevadans Lose SNAP, and Boulder City Hospital Ends Inpatient Care
About 28,000 Nevadans lost SNAP after the law's work rules took effect, and Boulder City Hospital became a rural emergency hospital with no inpatient beds.
### May 21, 2026: Joe Lombardo Says He Supports the Law's Medicaid Work Requirement
Asked on KTVN 2 News about the law's Medicaid changes, Joe Lombardo named the work requirement and said, "I support that."
### July 8, 2026: Joe Lombardo's Campaign Declines a KFF Health News Interview
KFF Health News reported that his campaign would not make him available to discuss health care.
### October 1, 2026: The Law's Medicaid Cutoff for About 5,000 Immigrants in Nevada Is Scheduled to Begin
The Nevada Current reported in July 2026 that about 5,000 legally present immigrants in Nevada were to be cut from Medicaid under the law starting that day.
### January 1, 2027: The Medicaid Work Requirement Begins in Nevada
About 280,000 Nevadans covered through the Medicaid expansion become subject to the work requirement.
What the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Joe Lombardo Praised Costs Nevada, Topic by Topic
- 280,000 Nevadans face the Medicaid work requirement in 2027. On health care, the law puts about 280,000 Nevadans covered by the Medicaid expansion under a work requirement from January 1, 2027, and an Urban Institute analysis put up to 145,000 of them at risk of losing coverage.
- A Nevada hospital ended inpatient care. At Boulder City Hospital, inpatient stays ended on May 1, 2026 and 71 workers got layoff notices, with its chief executive citing the law.
- Rural Nevada loses about $553 million in Medicaid. In rural Nevada, KFF estimates the law cuts federal Medicaid spending by about $553 million over ten years.
- Tens of thousands of Nevadans lost food aid. On food assistance, SNAP enrollment in Nevada fell more than 20 percent over twelve months as the new requirements took hold, the Associated Press reported in August 2026.
- 13,000 more Nevadans uninsured through the marketplace. On insurance costs, KFF estimates the law's marketplace rules add about 13,000 Nevadans to the uninsured in 2034.
- $4.1 trillion in added federal borrowing. On taxes and the deficit, the law adds $4.1 trillion to federal borrowing through 2034, counting interest, by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's reading of the Congressional Budget Office score.
- Nevada borrowers moved off SAVE pay $2,087 more a year. On student debt, the Center for American Progress estimates Nevada borrowers moved to the law's new repayment plan will pay $2,087 more a year on average.
- 210,000 Nevada children miss the full Child Tax Credit. On child care and families, Columbia University researchers estimate 210,000 Nevada children are ineligible for the full credit under the law because their families earn too little.
- Nevada households pay $320 more a year for energy by 2035. On energy and utility bills, Energy Innovation projects the law's energy provisions will add $320 a year to the average Nevada household's energy costs by 2035.
- Up to 574 million more tons of emissions in 2035. On climate, Rhodium Group projects the law adds 315 to 574 million metric tons of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2035.
- 760,000 U.S. jobs lost by 2030. On energy jobs, the law's energy provisions will cost 760,000 U.S. jobs by 2030, Energy Innovation estimates.
- $170.7 billion for immigration enforcement. On immigration, the law directs $170.7 billion to immigration and border enforcement.
- No federal nursing-home staffing floor until 2034. On elder care, the law bars enforcement of the federal minimum-staffing rule for nursing homes through September 30, 2034.
- Low-income seniors lose easier help with Medicare premiums. On Medicare, the law freezes until 2034 two rules that made it easier for low-income seniors to get help with Medicare costs, which KFF says cuts federal Medicaid spending by $122 billion.
- Rare-disease drug change adds $8.8 billion to Medicare spending. On prescription drugs, the law's orphan-drug change raises Medicare spending by $8.8 billion and delays negotiation for cancer drugs such as Keytruda, KFF reports.
- Silencers and short-barreled guns now go unregistered. On guns, the law cut the federal tax on silencers and short-barreled rifles and shotguns to $0, after which a federal judge ruled their registration rules unconstitutional.
- Many tipped workers get nothing from the tips deduction. On labor and wages, the Yale Budget Lab found that 37 percent of tipped workers nationally earn too little to owe federal income tax, so the tips deduction Joe Lombardo called a win does nothing for them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Joe Lombardo on One Big Beautiful Bill
What is Joe Lombardo's record on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act under Trump?
Joe Lombardo praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on the day of its final House vote in July 2025 and in January 2026 opted Nevada into its private-school scholarship tax credit. KFF puts Nevada's federal Medicaid loss under the law at an estimated $8.45 billion over ten years, and the law has already cut off SNAP for tens of thousands of Nevadans. Lombardo said in August 2025 that it directed no short-term cuts.
Did Joe Lombardo support the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
Yes. In the same July 3, 2025 statement in which Joe Lombardo told Nevadans to be excited about the bill, he wrote that its No Tax on Tips and overtime provisions were "a huge win for hardworking Nevadans!" He posted the statement on the day the House passed the final bill.
When does the Medicaid work requirement in the law Joe Lombardo praised start in Nevada?
Under the law Joe Lombardo praised, Nevada's Medicaid work requirement starts January 1, 2027 for expansion adults ages 19 to 64, who must also renew coverage every six months. Nevada Medicaid said in September 2026 that about 250,000 people would receive notices about it.
Will Nevada have to pay for SNAP benefits under the law Joe Lombardo praised?
Under the law Joe Lombardo praised, states with a SNAP payment error rate of 6 percent or more pay part of benefit costs starting in fiscal 2028, and Nevada's fiscal 2025 rate was just over that line. The Congressional Budget Office expects states, in response to the cost shift, to cut or end SNAP for about 300,000 people a month nationwide.
Last updated: 2026-10-26