UPDATE
As of Friday evening, the Assembly adjourned for the night without a vote on Assembly Bill 5.
ORIGINAL STORY
A bill to authorize nearly $1.6 billion in transferable film tax credits passed an Assembly committee on Friday, and now heads to the Assembly floor for a critical vote.
Assembly Bill 5, including several amendments made by the Committee on Jobs and the Economy, passed by a vote of 9-5. Republican Assembly Minority Leader Greg Hafen II, R-Nye County, voted against the measure along with Democrats Shea Backus, Selena Torres-Fossett, Natha Anderson and Howard Watts, all D-Clark County.
The bill now moves to the Assembly floor, where it barely survived a procedural vote on Thursday. Supporters need to muster at least 22 votes to pass the bill and send it to state Senate.
Before making the motion to approve the measure, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Clark County, denounced what he called a "coordinated, ill-fated attempt" to kill the measure before it ever got a hearing.
That hearing provided clarification about the details of the bill, and a chance for both supporters and opponents to weigh in during a marathon hearing Thursday. Yeager says he read the more than two dozen letters in opposition and the 11 in support included on a legislative website.
But Torres-Fossett spoke up to defend the move, made by Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch, D-Washoe County. Parliamentary procedures are part of the legislative process, Torres-Fossett said, adding that it was unfair for lawmakers to have to digest pages of amendments in a short time.
And La Rue Hatch released a statement calling Yeager's comments "deeply inappropriate and offensive."
"Instead of focusing on the real issues facing Nevadans like housing, education, and affordability, Speaker Yeager is prioritizing the largest corporate handout in Nevada history," La Rue Hatch said in her statement. "While the motion did not pass, it was clear the policy lacked the majority support of my colleagues."
She added: "Nevada citizens deserve better than a Speaker who mansplains to a female colleague while simultaneously pushing to give away $1.65 billion in public money that the nonpartisan legislative staff said the State of Nevada cannot afford."
Yeager — who shares an office in the legislative building on Carson Street with the bill's main supporter, Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui, D-Clark County — said he's never seen anyone work as hard on a piece of legislation than she did on the film tax bill.
The bill is also backed by the Howard Hughes Corp., which owns the land where the studio would be built if the bill passes. Hollywood giants Sony Pictures and Warner Bros./Discovery are also attached to the project, which has attracted support from many labor unions and the Nevada Republican Party.
Progressive groups have come out against the measure, saying the money could be better used elsewhere.
Lobbying on the bill has been intense, with some lawmakers complaining about tactics they say constitute intimidation.
Under the measure, the studios and Howard Hughes would have to invest millions to not only build the studio, but also produce content before they could claim the $95 million annual tax credits.
Supporters say it will help diversify the economy, provide high-paying jobs and be an economic hedge against future recessions, while opponents say the price tag is too high, the promised benefits won't materialize and that the money would have a greater impact if it was invested in businesses such as manufacturing.
If the plan is approved in the Assembly, it must still go to the state Senate for consideration before it reaches Gov. Joe Lombardo's desk.