Still no green light for largest public subsidy in state history as Legislature hits adjournment day

The Hollywood movie studios seeking $1.4 billion in transferable tax breaks over 15 years have clearly not received a red carpet rollout from the Nevada State Legislature.

Assembly Bill 238, which proposes a twelvefold expansion of the state’s transferable film tax credit program, passed the Assembly late Friday in a 22-20 vote, the thinnest margin allowable since a tie would mean not passing. That left the high profile bill three days to pass the Senate. However, two whole days came and went, leaving the bill with less than 24 hours to make it across the finish line.

The Senate Finance Committee on Sunday appeared to be gearing up for a late night hearing on the film tax credit bill, but instead the full Senate withdrew the bill from the committee and allowed it to take a procedural step it needed in the full chamber.

The bill would massively expand Nevada’s film tax credit program to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film studio currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project (after the Las Vegas neighborhood where it would be located). Hollywood giants Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery are attached to the project. Howard Hughes Holdings is developing.

A small army of lobbyists for film studios could be seen entering the Senate Democrats office after the lawmakers adjourned for the night.

Nevada’s film tax credit program is currently capped at $10 million per year. AB 238 would raise that cap to $120 million per year, for 15 years, beginning in 2028. The majority of those tax credits, $95 million per year, would be reserved for productions at the Summerlin studio; $25 million per year would be for productions not attached to the studio.

Altogether, that’s equivalent to $1.8 billion in public subsidies for the television and film industry. If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo, the legislation will be the largest public subsidy approved by the State of Nevada, surpassing the $1.25 billion approved by lawmakers in 2014 for Tesla Motors.

While tax credits aren’t issued to companies until they prove they’ve met the qualifications for them, the state must treat them as “negative revenue” when forecasting expected state revenue. That means they do impact the state budgeting process.

Here’s where other high-profile bills stand going into the last day of the session:

Budget bills

Four of the five budget bills have passed the Nevada Legislature and been signed by the governor. Senate Bill 502, known as the capital improvement program (CIP) bill, appears close to crossing the finish line. It passed the Assembly Sunday night with an amendment. Now, it needs to be concurred by the Senate.

The CIP bill must be passed by a two-thirds majority, so it is often used by the minority party as leverage in broader negotiations. That was the case in the 2023 session, when the CIP bill failed to pass the Senate before midnight on the last day. That forced a one-day special session.

The state’s other four budget bills (Senate Bill 500, Assembly Bill 591, Assembly Bill 592, and Senate Bill 501) all passed the Legislature within the last week and have been signed by the governor.

Education bill becomes group project

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Gov. Joe Lombardo reached a compromise on their competing omnibus education bills.

Cannizzaro’s Senate Bill 460 was amended to include components of Lombardo’s Assembly Bill 584, including his proposal to establish a statewide accountability system and a salary incentive program for educators and administrators. Components of Cannizzaro’s bill that made it past the amendment include revised evaluation procedures for educators and administrators and additional transparency and assessment requirements for schools receiving funding through the state’s quasi-voucher system, known as Opportunity Scholarships.

The Senate unanimously passed the bill Sunday, and the bill now heads to the Assembly.

Cannizzaro said the bill represents the state taking “significant strides” toward accountability and transparency. Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus also spoke on the floor in support.

Also on the education front: Senate Bill 161, a Clark County Education Association priority bill carried by state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas), passed the Legislature with some bipartisan support and was signed by Lombardo in the last week of the session. The bill establishes an expedited arbitration process for teachers unions and school districts, and, perhaps more consequentially, establishes a pathway for K-12 public school teachers to legally go on strike.

With the passage of SB 161, CCEA will withdraw a ballot measure it had qualified for the 2028 general election ballot. That ballot measure, if approved by voters, would have given teachers the right to strike. The teachers union had previously said it was prepared to defend the ballot measure next year but would prefer to bypass it through legislative action.

It marks the second time the union has pulled this move. In 2021, CCEA qualified two ballot measures — one to raise the gaming tax, another to raise the sales tax — only to pull them after the Legislature established a new mining tax that directly funds the state’s K-12 per pupil education fund.

Lombardo’s other bills

• Assembly Bill 540, Lombardo’s housing bill, is currently in the Senate Government Affairs Committee. It has received a hearing but no action has been taken. The bill has already cleared the full Assembly.
• Senate Bill 457, Lombardo’s criminal justice bill, passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday after receiving a major amendment. The bill needs to pass the full Senate and the full Assembly.
• Senate Bill 495, Lombardo’s health care bill, is prepped for a vote by the full Senate. It will need to be approved by the Senate, then by the Assembly.
• Senate Bill 461, Lombardo’s economic development bill, is currently in the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee. It received a hearing but no action has been taken.

Banking bill bombs

On Friday, a banking bill sponsored by Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager fell short of the required two-thirds approval it needed to pass the chamber. Assembly Bill 500 would allow for payment banks, a new type of financial institution that focuses solely on payment processing rather than lending.

The Assembly vote was 25-17, a simple majority but three votes short of the two-thirds it needed because it would raise state revenue. On Sunday, AB500 returned to the Assembly floor with an amendment that removed the two-thirds requirement. The amendment was adopted but, in a bizarre turn of events, the vote failed 20-22. The vote was attempted a third time and also failed.

This story was updated to reflect the status of bills.