Reno, Nev. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) visited Pershing, Churchill, and Lyon counties to meet with leaders of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe and discuss how best to continue to advocate for them at the federal level. She also hosted a roundtable with local stakeholders to discuss the need for greater access to affordable housing in Nevada’s rural communities.
“I was honored to meet with leaders of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe to discuss the challenges facing Indian Country. I look forward to continuing to work with them to promote access to affordable housing, promote coordination at all levels of law enforcement to keep tribal members safe, and improve quality of life on tribal lands.
“I also want to thank everyone who participated in today’s affordable housing roundtable. We had a productive discussion about the severe affordable housing shortage facing Nevada and important steps we can take to solve this crisis. The next step for me is to take the ideas we discussed and turn them into real solutions for the people of Nevada.”
BACKGROUND:
As a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Senator Cortez Masto is committed to increasing access to resources in tribal communities. She recently introduced the End Trafficking of Native Americans Act of 2018 to establish an advisory committee on human trafficking comprised of law enforcement, tribal leaders, and service providers, to make recommendations to the DOI and DOJ on how to best coordinate efforts to combat human trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. She is an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan Native American Suicide Prevention Act to help address the suicide crisis in Indian Country by ensuring collaboration among states and tribal communities to design and implement strategic suicide intervention and prevention strategies. She also recently re-introduced the Tribal Nutrition Improvement Act of 2018, legislation to give tribes an important tool to address the pervasive and serious problems of child hunger and nutrition-related diseases.
As a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Cortez Masto has announced her support for the Affordable Housing and Credit Improvement Act, legislation that would provide 1.3 million more affordable rental homes nationwide in the next ten years. It would expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit by 50% and provide a 50% basis boost to developments that set aside 20% of units for the lowest income families.