How Gov. Brian Sandoval overcame party politics to pass the Tesla deal 240-0

By Kyle Roerink

Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Gov. Brian Sandoval had everything and everyone right where he wanted them.

About 9:20 p.m. Sept. 11, the Nevada Legislature approved $1.3 billion in tax breaks to land Tesla Motors' massive lithium-ion battery factory near Reno. In return, Tesla agreed to invest $3.5 billion in Nevada.

Less than an hour later, the four Tesla bills sat on the governor's desk laid out neatly in a row. Five Battle Born blue pens imprinted with the governor's signature waited to the right.

Dozens of lawmakers surrounded the governor's desk to watch him sign the 12th-biggest corporate tax break in U.S. history. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, jostling one another to be seen in the photos that would surely become historic artifacts.

That scene captured the political strategies and stagecraft Sandoval used to guide the Tesla deal through the Nevada Legislature in a special session that lasted less than 48 hours. He did it without setting foot in the Senate or Assembly — at least within public view — and without a single lawmaker voting in opposition despite the dysfunction and polarization that pervade politics today.

Even though Sandoval is a Republican and Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature, the total vote count across the four bills came in at 240 to 0.

That Sandoval pulled it off reveals the power the governor has in Nevada politics. He's running unopposed in November for his second term, and even Sen. Harry Reid's political machine couldn't find a viable challenger.

How Sandoval made it happen shows how the governor has learned to use that power.

“The tree was planted firm and clear despite the best efforts of some,” Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, a Republican, said in the last hours of the special session.

Sandoval and the campaign from the south

While Sandoval struck a deal that most Nevada leaders cheered, a few lawmakers weren’t as happy. Sen. Aaron Ford, for example, heard some bad news about the deal 30 minutes before the big announcement.

Sandoval was scheduled to step before the microphone to announce Nevada had beaten out four other states to win Tesla's $5 billion factory and the projected 6,500 jobs that come with it. In his public announcement, Sandoval signaled the tax incentives were all but a done deal, even though the Legislature had yet to hold a hearing.

Right before the ceremony, Ford learned that Sandoval planned to help pay for the Tesla deal by gutting a program that had been Ford's baby.

Sandoval wanted cut the state's film tax credit from $80 million to just $10 million for the next four years.

Ford, a North Las Vegas Democrat, ushered the tax credit through the Legislature and earned Sandoval's signature in 2013. Ford, along with other Senate Democrats, wanted the program to entice Hollywood producers to move their production to Las Vegas.

For Clark County, Sandoval's move looked like he was raiding the south to help the north, a long-running tension between the regions.

Ford called Sandoval's office seeking to save his program. The $70 million tax credit was relatively small in the context of the $1.3 billion deal.

But Sandoval didn’t budge.

Ford lobbied enough to draw criticism for favoring "Mall Cop 2" — the movie filmed at the Wynn using the state tax credit — over Tesla's battery plant.

“A lot of people are saying it was an effort at horse trading,” Ford said. “This was doing what our constituents expect.”

Some sweeteners did show up in the deal. Tesla promised to pay $37.5 million to public schools over five years and $1 million to UNLV for battery research.

But for Senate Democrats, those weren't enough.

On Sept. 9, the day before the Tesla session started, Senate Democratic leaders Mo Denis and Debbie Smith met face-to-face with Sandoval.

They were in his office for an hour.

Unlike regular sessions of the Legislature, Nevada governors control the agenda for special sessions by issuing a proclamation. Denis and Smith asked Sandoval to add an item to his proclamation for the Legislature to renew bonds to renovate public schools in Washoe and Clark counties.

“We felt encouraged about the conversation,” Smith said.

Hours after the meeting, the governor’s proclamation became public. The school bonds weren't in it.

“There were not continuing conversations,” Smith said.

Greg Ferraro, a lobbyist who works closely with Sandoval, said the administration was accessible and open to negotiations throughout the session. But the governor also wanted to get the deal done.

“The governor wanted to keep everybody focused on the task at hand with a clear understanding that in less than six months they will be in full session working through all these issues and more,” he said.

Sandoval's staff

Sandoval didn't work the Assembly or Senate floor. He sent his A team to do that work for him.

Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, was the public face of the Tesla deal.

He spent hours patiently answering lawmakers questions. When he wasn't talking into the mic, Hill walked the halls of the Legislature rehashing his talking points for lobbyists and reporters who surrounded him.

The behind-the-scenes work was done by Sandoval's top staffers: Chief of Staff Mike Willden and Deputy Chief of Staff Jackie Bryant. They sat in the gallery listening to Hill's testimony, then during breaks they rushed to meet behind closed doors with legislative leaders in the Assembly and Senate.

Before entering the office of Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, Willden emphasized that the session was about Tesla “getting moving and going.”

When asked about the school bonds and the film tax, Willden said, “There’s time for those later.”

Even though some lawmakers lobbied for changes, they still voted for it and delivered Sandoval a rare unanimous vote. No one wanted to be on record opposing the biggest economic project in state history at time when Nevada has the country’s fourth-highest unemployment rate. To make it an even riskier “no” vote, the session came just eight weeks before election day.

And Sandoval knew that political calculus leaned in his favor.

What's next for Sandoval and the south

Sitting at his desk for the bill signing, Sandoval looked up at the lawmakers and thanked them for "asking the hard questions" during the special session.

Lawmakers did make two tweaks to Sandoval's bills. They mandated that Tesla employees receive health insurance and demanded that the state publicly post waivers Tesla or its partners use to hire out-of-state workers.

In the closing moments of the session, Republicans rose to praise the deal and thank Sandoval for his leadership. Democrats thanked Reid and vowed to return to Carson City for the 2015 legislative session seeking to recover what they lost out on this time: school funding and the film tax credit.

In just more than seven days, Sandoval announced his Tesla victory and got the deal to his desk for a signature.

Before he picked up the Battle Born blue pen that matched the color of his tie, Sandoval tried to strike a collaborative tone, describing the Legislature and government leaders as the “Nevada family.”

“Families have their disagreements,” he said. “We all do. But in the end, look what we’ve done.”