LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A bill to authorize more than $1.6 billion in film tax credits that would bring a Hollywood studio to Summerlin passed the state Assembly Sunday morning.
On a 22-20 vote, Assembly Bill 5 squeaked out of the chamber after a passionate debate and several procedural roadblocks. The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration.
Supporters cited the jobs that would be created by the film studio, movie and TV production and related businesses, as well as the potential to diversify the economy with a recession-resistant industry not currently operating on a large scale in the state.
"Nevadans come first in this deal," Monroe-Moreno said during the floor debate.
Jauregui noted the companies involved in the project — the Howard Hughes Corp., Sony Pictures and Warner Bros./Discovery — would have to invest $1.8 billion in construction and $300 million annually in production before they could claim the $95 million in annual transferrable tax credits.
She, too, cited the 19,000 construction jobs and 18,000 permanent jobs that would be created by the project.
"Colleagues, every so often we get a chance to do something that truly changes the trajectory of this state, not in theory, not in slogans, but in people's real lives. AB 5 is one of those moments," Jauregui said. "For too long, too many Nevadans have lived on the edge of the middle class, doing everything right, working hard, raising their kids, showing up every day, but still feeling like the ground beneath them could give way at any moment. This bill is about giving them solid ground."
But opponents of the bill said it was too expensive, would eat up too much in state revenues and that money would be better spent on other programs.
Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch, D-Washoe County, said the bill would leave lawmakers with uncomfortable choices in the future.
"And there have been unprecedented actions taken these few days, and I know that has frustrated some people, but this is an unprecedented bill," she said. "This is the largest corporate handout in Nevada history. We have all seen the numbers. Whether you are a yes or a no, you know for a fact that if we pass this bill, in future Legislatures, we are either going to have to raise taxes or we are going to have to cut services."
La Rue Hatch on Thursday used a rare Assembly rule to try to reject the film tax bill before it could even be heard in committee. The vote to reject ended in a 21-21 tie, which meant it failed, but not before flummoxing the chamber for an extended period.
She noted that organized labor groups had lobbied heavily in support of the bill, but said that as a union member herself, solidarity meant doing what's right for everybody.
"Solidarity means an injury to one is an injury to all. It does not mean I got mine, you figure yourself out," she said.
And Assemblyman Howard Watts II, D-Clark County, said the benefits of the program — jobs, funding for pre-kindergarten programs and health care for retired state workers, among others — had a price.
"But nothing comes for free, and the price tag attached to this proposal is staggering," Watts said. "These transferable tax credits don't just allow Sony and Warner Brothers, companies worth $185 billion and $55 billion, to set up shop without paying state taxes. They allow these conglomerates to sell their credits to other businesses, turning Nevada taxpayers' dollars into corporate revenue."
Easily the most controversial bill in the special session that's now in its fourth day in Carson City, the film tax credit proposal has a long history in the Legislature.
A different version of the bill, authored by state Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Clark County, was introduced at the end of the 2023 session, but failed to pass.
In 2025, a competing version of the measure sponsored by Assemblywomen Sandra Jauregui and Daniele Monroe-Moreno, both D-Clark County, passed the Assembly on an identical 22-20 vote. It passed a Senate committee but died on the Senate floor on the final day of the session.
Before the vote, opponents repeatedly used legislative rules to try to derail the bill. Twice on Saturday, attempts by Jauregui to treat the bill as an emergency measure — and take an immediate vote — were thwarted when a two-thirds vote failed.
And on Sunday, Assemblywoman Selena Torres-Fossett, D-Clark County, questioned whether two Assembly members — Brian Hibbetts and Heidi Kasama, both R-Clark County — could participate in the proceedings remotely.
After Speaker Steve Yeager overruled her objection, Torres-Fossett asked for a vote on the Assembly floor, which also failed. Hibbetts and Kasama both voted to pass AB 5.
