Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

State Government:

Governor likely to call session for tax breaks to lure electric car company

Brian Sandoval

Cathleen Allison / AP

Gov. Brian Sandoval sits in his office at the Capitol on Friday, April 17, 2015, in Carson City.

Updated Friday, Aug. 21, 2015 | 4:26 p.m.

Although administration officials aren’t saying anything in public, indications are growing that Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval could be soon calling a special session of the Nevada Legislature to approve a package of tax incentives designed to lure a California electric car company to build a factory in North Las Vegas.

“All I heard was that there was going to be (a session), but I don’t know when,” said Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas. Assemblyman Erv Nelson, R-Las Vegas, echoed his position, saying, “There have been rumblings, but nothing definite.”

A special session could come as early as the second week of September.

The governor's office told the Sun that Sandoval is "engaged in ongoing discussions" with electric car startup Faraday Future but wouldn't confirm plans for a special session.

In July, Faraday announced that Southern Nevada was one of four finalists competing for the company’s business. Since then, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and the Sandoval administration have been in confidential discussions with the company over the Apex facility in North Las Vegas, which could house such a factory. Lawmakers and North Las Vegas officials visited company representatives in California last month.

"I won't speculate on a special session, but I can say this is a very special project with a economic impact projected to be the same size or larger than last year's deal with Tesla," said North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.

Although local officials are hoping for a package of incentives similar to the $1.3 billion in tax breaks that lured Tesla to Northern Nevada last year, the outlines of a deal have been kept private, under nondisclosure agreements between Faraday and the city of North Las Vegas and the office of the governor.

While some lobbyists said they expected there would be a special session, others say they have been left out of the loop.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development, which is working to win Faraday, usually returns the phone calls of Ray Bacon, a lobbyist for the Nevada Manufacturers Association. On this issue, he said, they’re not.

“Right now, the governor’s office and (GOED Director) Steve Hill’s folks are probably the only ones involved in this,” he said.

The economic development office declined to comment on the story, citing the nondisclosure agreement.

Nevada is competing against Georgia, Louisiana and California for the factory.

Faraday, a startup that left stealth mode last month, has not publicly announced its CEO but has hired several Tesla and BMW engineers and designers.

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