Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Opening day of session heavy on pro-stadium hoopla

Carson

Michelle Rindels / AP

Nevada lawmakers meet in Carson City, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, for a special session to consider raising hotel taxes for a new football stadium in Las Vegas.

CARSON CITY — A three-hour block devoted to pro-stadium presentations, including an ad-like video and testimony from casino bigwigs, sparked criticism from Democrats on the first day of the special session.

After ceremonial and procedural items Monday morning, business began in both houses of the Nevada Legislature. State senators dove into the bill related to funding the expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center and construction of an NFL-ready stadium, while their Assembly counterparts addressed the bill that would bolster law enforcement in Southern Nevada.

Then lawmakers from both houses listened to testimony from a bevy of project supporters, including Steve Wynn, MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren and Caesars Entertainment executive Jan Jones Blackhurst.

All three Strip leaders implored state legislators to approve the tourist-corridor projects, with Wynn calling any failure to do so “one of the most heartbreaking mistakes.”

“I hope you find it in your wisdom to approve it shortly and promptly,” he said.

Lawmakers applauded after the presentations, which drew the ire of Democratic Assemblyman Elliot Anderson. As the Assembly wrapped up for the evening, he voiced displeasure about how the day’s events unfolded.

“We clapped instead of asking questions, and I just don’t think that’s appropriate,” Elliot Anderson said. “We are considering, in a very short window, a very serious policy matter, and we should have all the opportunity in the world to ask questions. I think the way this looks to the public is not a great look.”

Majority leader Paul Anderson, a Republican, said he agreed the applause “felt uncomfortable and out of order,” but he defended the joint session filled with back-to-back testimony from stadium proponents.

“I felt like I was doing us a favor by getting access to the testimony that would not have been available,” he said.

The discontent spilled over into the Senate chamber, where public commenters expressed frustration about how long legislators allowed stadium proponents to testify.

Annette Magnus, executive director of Battle Born Progress, said people were waiting all day in Las Vegas to testify via video stream, but some had to leave before the public comment period opened late Monday afternoon.

Sen. Ruben Kihuen, a Democrat, clapped in response to Magnus’ comments. Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, a Republican, then chastised Kihuen for applauding in the Senate chambers.

Click to enlarge photo

A small group of protesters gather outside the Nevada Capitol building in Carson City, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Lawmakers are meeting to vet a public financing plan for a proposed NFL stadium in Las Vegas, but critics say tax money is better used for education.

The scuffles exposed some divides that remain between lawmakers, especially in relation to raising the Clark County hotel room tax to pay for the estimated $1.9 billion football stadium.

Stadium supporters contend the facility would be a slam-dunk addition to Las Vegas’ entertainment options, drawing a whole new segment of visitors who will gamble, dine and shop while in town for a major sporting event or concert. But critics argue the public contribution is too big and might come back to haunt local taxpayers.

The proposed funding looks like this: $750 million from the public, $500 million from the football team and $650 million from the family of Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., who originally proposed the project. The county would issue general obligation bonds to finance the project, and the additional hotel room tax revenue would pay off that debt.

The money factor played a prominent role in Senate discussions Monday. Some of the toughest questions came from newly minted Democratic state Sen. Julia Ratti of Sparks, who drilled into the nitty-gritty details of bond repayment provisions and the so-called “waterfall provisions,” which determine where any excess revenue generated by the room tax increase goes.

Lawmakers also queried state leaders about protections in place to ensure the UNLV football team has priority access to the stadium, which would be the program’s new home. Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, estimated the university would pay about $250,000 per game to play in the stadium, or roughly $1.5 million each year for all six home games.

Hill explained to lawmakers that some large-scale events might be scheduled well in advance of when UNLV determines its football schedule, but that the university has said it is willing to work around such events. Additionally, the NFL schedule is also set before UNLV’s, however professional football games typically fall on Sundays, which shouldn’t conflict with the university’s Saturday games.

Meanwhile, Assembly members dug into the bill aimed at boosting police security in Southern Nevada, especially in the resort corridor. The draft legislation — known as the Clark County Crime Prevention Act of 2016 — calls for raising the sales tax by 0.1 percent, bringing the sales tax rate for police up to 0.4 percent.

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said the tax increase would generate about $39.2 million per year. That money would be distributed in two ways: About $7.9 million would go toward hiring 66 officers for the resort corridor, defined areas surrounding the Strip and downtown. The other $31.3 million would be used to hire 245 officers in other parts of the county, Lombardo said.

The sheriff asked lawmakers to separate police funding from conversations about the convention center and proposed stadium; however, Assembly members questioned why police funding needed to be discussed now as opposed to during the regular session, which begins in February.

Assemblyman Ira Hansen encouraged fellow lawmakers to refrain from voting on the bill until the Legislature can explore it in more depth. He called it an “abuse of process” for police funding to be included in the special session.

Lombardo and Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis — the Las Vegas-based research firm that has been working with state officials and Metro Police — vehemently disagreed with that suggestion.

“The urgency has been here a long time before now,” Aguero said. “There is a clear and present risk that exists within our resort corridor and a clear and present need within the community — that if we don’t take steps, that we are increasing the vulnerability.”

Lawmakers questioned the sheriff about a host of concerns, including whether the bill language implied that tourists’ lives were more valuable than those of local residents and if the department could also pay for ancillary costs like body cameras for new recruits.

Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson also suggested including provisions in the bill that would address juvenile justice and probation, which he said are key to preventing crime in the long run.

No votes were cast in either house. The Assembly adjourned about 7 p.m., and the Senate recessed for dinner but resumed discussions until 11 p.m.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy