Spring Advocacy Update: “Team Tahoe” Travels to Our Nation’s Capitol

 In mid-March, I was invited to join “Team Tahoe” members on a legislative advocacy trip to Washington D.C. We spoke about the need for Lake Tahoe Restoration Act funding in the 2026 appropriations cycle totaling $42M to address topics including forest health, water infrastructure to fight fires, aquatic invasive species, watershed restoration and water quality, and the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout. Additionally, we engaged Congressional representatives ahead of the coming Surface Transportation Reauthorization to identify opportunities addressing travel demand impacts in the community, including SR 28 corridor safety improvements between Sand Harbor and Thunderbird, the Kings Beach Western Approach Gateway Project, and the SR 89/267 Transit Priority and Emergency Evacuation Lane projects.

The team assembled consisted of a wide range of agencies, tribal, NGOs, and NPOs, including representatives from TRPA, Visit North Tahoe Nevada, the Washoe Tribe, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, Heavenly Mountain Resort, and the North Tahoe Community Alliance. We met with a total of 11 representatives and staff, including Rep. Kevin Kiley, Sen. Cortez Masto, Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Garamendi, Rep. Amodei, Sen. Padilla, Sen. Rosen, leadership of the House Appropriations Committee, and more.

This was a unique opportunity to showcase how North Tahoe’s strong private/public partnerships have collaborated on our biggest challenges, used a mix of private funds and public dollars generated locally, and how we’ve leveraged those funds on coordinated projects and programs to benefit the community. These well-coordinated efforts utilizing a mix of local, County, and State funds demonstrate the opportunity for additional partnering of Federal resources to further aid the priorities of transportation and environmental stewardship in our region.

Many of our representatives were interested in the stories we shared and look forward to advocating on our behalf in the appropriations cycle for funding that continues to move priority projects and programs for North Tahoe.  

To help prepare for this trip, the week before, the NTCA, Placer County and the TRPA jointly hosted Jack Thompson (Kevin Kiley’s regional representative) for a full-day tour of North Lake Tahoe. Our discussion focused on economic development, redevelopment of our downtown cores and resort villages, and current and planned infrastructure, transportation, and housing projects and programs. We also talked about how our business community stepped up to form the TBID, the additional funding it unlocks in support of housing and transportation projects and programs, our partnerships with private businesses, NPOs, and agencies that collaborate on improvement projects in our region, and the need for and role federal funding plays in amplifying the variety of projects and programs that help us continue to invest in our infrastructure, services, and environment. 

We toured Jack through the Tahoe City and Kings Beach downtown cores, visiting with developers and business owners to showcase the private investment underway in support of workforce housing and economic development, and wrapped up the day talking with Palisades Tahoe representatives about regional transportation enhancements, the Hwy 89 and 267 adaptive corridor management plan, and the Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan recently approved by Placer County. Jack will be in the North Tahoe area several times a year to learn and understand more about our regional priorities and how the congressman can help.

– Tony Karwowski, NTCA president and CEO