LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A seven-day special session wrapped up late Wednesday, as two major bills failed to pass on the final day.
A bill aimed at setting up a film studio in Summerlin failed by one vote in the state Senate, and a bill to limit corporate purchases of residential units in the state failed by a single vote in the state Assembly.
But 14 other bills passed the session and are on their way to Gov. Joe Lombardo, including a crime bill that now carries a controversial amendment added by Democrats that may draw a veto.
Nevada Special Session Results: Film Studio Fails, Housing Bill Defeated
Film tax dies
The film tax credit plan — known as Assembly Bill 5 — was backed by Howard Hughes Companies, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros./Discovery. Its centerpiece would have been a film studio built in Summerlin.
It would have required backers to build the studio and produce content before they could access the tax credits, which they could have used or sold to other companies to defray their taxes.
Backers touted the jobs associated with the project, both in construction and permanent studio positions, as well as a hefty economic impact.
But detractors said the money could be used better elsewhere, and warned the state would face a "fiscal cliff" once the credits were issued.
State Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Clark County, who had a rival film tax bill in the 2023 and 2025 sessions, voted against AB 5, saying her bill would have offered tax credits for all productions, not just a single studio.
"But all this ended because of money, power and influence," she said.
Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said the backers were wealthy corporations that didn't need subsidies.
"You're going to tell me that we need to take money from the Nevada taxpayers that should be going into the general fund and transfer it to what boils down to extortion in order to have them come to the state of Nevada? No, it's wrong," he said.
Hansen, and other lawmakers, alluded to the intense lobbying on the bill that he said resulted in heated conversations and intimidation.
And, he said, it would endanger the state's finances. "This is going to hurt the bulk of the state," he said. "It's going to short our revenue, it's going to reduce our opportunities to have projects all around the state. It's a job-killing bill."
The final vote was 10 in favor, 8 against and three senators absent. The measure required a simple majority of 11 votes to pass the 21-member chamber.
In a statement to Channel 13, bill sponsor Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Clark County, stood by the project's promises.
"The film bill was an opportunity to create nearly 40,000 good-paying jobs, bring billions of dollars in new investments, and help diversify our economy away from the boom-bust cycle that has long defined Nevada," she said in the statement. "I am disappointed with the outcome, but I tip my cap to the opponents on their work, it's part of the democratic and legislative process and every elected official should respect it.
"Despite this setback, I am more committed than ever to fighting to create good-paying jobs and bring new investments to our state so Nevadans can find a job that allows them to provide for their family," she added.
A historic first ... and a flop
The session also saw, for the first time in state history, lawmakers call their own special session to consider a bill pertaining to corporate ownership of housing.
Two-thirds of the 63-member Legislature — fully 42 people, both Democrat and Republican — signed the petition. Until now, only the governor has called special sessions, but voters in 2012 approved a constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to do so as well.
The legislative special session occurred at the same time as the one called by Lombardo.
As a result, lawmakers considered Senate Bill 10, which would have limited corporations to purchasing no more than 1,000 housing units in the state per year.
Corporations would also have to register with the state.
A similar bill was introduced in the regular legislative session earlier this year, but failed to pass, after Lombardo reportedly asked Republicans in the state Senate not to vote for it.
But at least one of those Republicans — Hansen — said he supported the concept, since corporations are pricing young people in particular out of the market, he said.
The bill was looking good, passing a committee hearing and earning a unanimous 18-0 vote on the Senate floor, with three senators absent.
But the bill ironically ground to a halt in the Assembly, where petition signer Alexis Hansen, R-Sparks, Ira Hansen's wife, declared that she couldn't vote for it.
An emotional Hansen hinted on the Senate floor about unspecified events that had transpired behind the scenes, saying she'd hoped for a bipartisan solution to the housing issue.
"But I never committed my vote, and I was hoping for the best and that has not transpired," Alexis Hansen said on the Assembly floor. "And I commit that I will work diligently in the upcoming months that we can address this in the interim and in other ways."
The final Assembly vote was 27-10, with five members absent. Because the bill contained fees, it required a two-thirds supermajority of 28 votes to pass, meaning Hansen's was the deciding vote against it.
Hansen did not return a request for comment on her vote Thursday.
Crime bill passes, with a poison pill
One of the main reasons the special session was called was to pass a crime bill, which includes tougher penalties for DUI and child porn, stop automatic criminal record sealing for people convicted of abuse or neglect of children or elderly people and the creation of a special corridor on the Strip where repeat offenders can be banished.
That bill was amended in the state Senate to add rules restricting law enforcement actions on public school grounds. The provision comes in response to stepped-up federal immigration enforcement nationwide, and is intended to ensure students and their parents feel safe at school.
The addition of that amendment may draw a veto from Lombardo, who vetoed a bill with similar language during the regular session.
In fact, Lombardo cited that veto in a dispute with the U.S. Justice Department, which accused Nevada this year of being a "sanctuary state." After Lombardo's administration confronted federal officials with a timeline of actions it has taken to cooperate with immigration authorities, the federal government removed the state from the list.
As of Thursday, Lombardo had signed five bills from the special session, but the crime bill was not among them. No vetoes have been recorded thus far.
Bills that passed the session
Among the bills that passed the special session:
- Assembly Bill 1, pertaining to cybersecurity, creating a Security Operations Center and allowing school districts and local governments to use state cybersecurity services.
- Assembly Bill 2, which exempts casinos from a law that allows liquor wholesalers to take payments directly from a customer's bank account.
- Assembly Bill 6, which aims to increase safety in school zones.
- Senate Bill 3, which creates the Silver State General Assistance program to step in if programs such as the federally funded SNAP are interrupted, as they were during the recent government shutdown. Lombardo has signed the bill into law.
- Senate Bill 5, a measure to recruit new doctors to Nevada and to ease licensing for physicians moving here from other states.
- Senate Bill 6, which provides funds for relocating residents of the sinking Windsor Park neighborhood in North Las Vegas. Lombardo also signed this measure into law.
- Senate Bill 7, regarding lung diseases experienced by first responders such as firefighters, arson investigators and police officers.
- Senate Bill 8, which adopts federal rules that say employees don't have to be paid by companies for activities that are required either before or after working hours.
Mail ballot amendment
Also on Wednesday, state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Clark County, introduced a resolution that would amend the state constitution to ensure all voters have the right to receive a mail ballot.
Mail ballots were once lightly used in Nevada, but were sent to all voters during the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid spreading disease at polling places. The Legislature later changed state statutes to make automatic mail ballots permanent.
But President Donald Trump and others have falsely claimed mail ballots allow for fraud, and have moved to eliminate them. A constitutional amendment would protect Nevadans' right to vote by mail, unless a voter specifically opts out of receiving ballots that way.
The resolution would also mandate ballot drop boxes be available during the three days between the end of early voting and Election Day. Lombardo during the regular session vetoed a bill that would have ensured those drop boxes were available to voters.
The resolution passed both houses and now must be passed again during the 2027 Legislature before it goes to the ballot in 2028. Because it's a joint resolution, Lombardo cannot veto the measure.
Another factor: A citizen voter ID measure that passed in 2024 with 73% of the vote, which will appear again on the 2026 ballot. If it passes, as is expected, voters would be required to show ID when voting in person at the polls, or to write an ID number on their mail-in ballot.
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