Assemblymember Reuben D'Silva, D-Las Vegas, reintroduced legislation last week that would designate Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Vaisakhi and Vesak as days of observance in Nevada. The holidays hold deep significance for Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist communities, respectively, and D'Silva said they carry cultural weight comparable to Easter or Christmas for Christians.

If enacted, Nevada would become the fourth state to recognize Diwali, following California, Pennsylvania and Connecticut; the third to recognize Eid, after California and Washington; and the first to recognize Vaisakhi and Vesak.

The proposal is a revival of Assembly Bill 82, which passed the Assembly 33-9 and the Senate 15-6 during the 2025 session with broad bipartisan support before Lombardo vetoed it. It was among a state-record 87 bills the governor vetoed that session.

"The official reason was that there were too many holidays on the list of days of observance," D'Silva said.

Lombardo also vetoed other cultural observance measures and asked their sponsors to seek proclamations instead. He did sign one bill designating a day of observance: Senate Bill 96, which established Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Nevada.

D'Silva said he had expected Lombardo to sign the holiday legislation. "I really think that it was a campaign move, because there was such a backlash against diversity initiatives," he said.

The assemblymember said he is also reintroducing a reparations study bill. His 2025 version would have created a Juneteenth commission and tasked a legislative subcommittee with studying racial discrimination in Nevada, including potential forms of restitution or rehabilitation for descendants. Lombardo vetoed that measure as well.

According to D'Silva, both bills have the support of Ford, the Democrat who unseated Lombardo earlier this month and takes office in 2027. Democrats hold voting control of both legislative chambers, giving them a clear path to enact measures the outgoing governor blocked.

Ford has said he would sign several bills within his first 30 days, including a cap on prescription drug prices at Medicare levels, universal free school meals and limits on corporate homebuying.

"Gov.-elect Ford gave me strong assurance that he's going to sign both of those as long as I can work them through the Legislature and get them to his desk," D'Silva said.

D'Silva stressed that the holidays are not akin to novelty observances such as National Hot Dog Day. They have been celebrated for thousands of years by millions of people, he said.

"These are a deep part of a human story; these are celebrations of fate and culture," he said.

D'Silva, who is Catholic, pointed to India, where Christians make up about 2% of the population yet Christmas is an official federal holiday. That kind of recognition matters because it makes people feel included, he said.

"It's about visibility and representation, and being incorporated into the broader society," D'Silva said.

Diwali, a major festival of lights celebrated by more than a billion people, is recognized by California, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Eid, which marks the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan, is recognized by California and Washington.

The legislation is among 93 bills Nevada legislators have introduced so far. Although the next session does not begin until February, incumbents can introduce bills for the coming session as soon as the previous one ends.

D'Silva said recognition of these holidays has come up repeatedly in his community. Even if it carries no fiscal cost or tangible policy change, he said, it matters to his constituents.

Constituents tell him, "'We never had anybody who represented us, who could understand the community,'" D'Silva said. "It may sound basic to other folks, but having our religious holidays observed on the Nevada calendar is a huge deal when it comes to being accepted."