LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — An Assembly committee passed a bill that could lead to a major movie studio being built in Southern Nevada, but it did so without recommending it should be passed.
The vote was nearly unanimous — Assembly Republican Minority Leader Greg Hafen II, R-Nye County, voted no — to send Assembly Bill 238 to the floor without a recommendation. In most cases, bills heard by committees come with a recommendation to the full Assembly to "do pass" the measure.
This bill — sponsored by Assembly Minority Leader Sandra Jauregui and Daniele Monroe-Moreno, both D-Clark County, calls for $110 million in transferable tax credits per year for 15 years starting in the next biennium in order to get developers to build a film studio in Summerlin.
VIDEO: Steve Sebelius talks to Assembly Minority Leader Sandra Jauregui about bill that could lead to movie studio in Southern Nevada
That's a total of $1.65 billion over the 15-year term of the bill.
AB 238 is sought by a partnership between the Howard Hughes Corp., Sony Pictures and Warner Bros./Discovery. It would require the studio be built and films actually produced before tax credits could be earned.
It's also got the support of organized labor.
Senior Political Reporter Steve Sebelius breaks down what happened when the bill was first heard in the Assembly.
Proponents promise jobs, both to build the studio and to operate it, as well as economic impacts from bringing a new industry to town that's not dependent on tourism. They also cite a workforce training program that would train people for careers in the entertainment industry.
But opponents decry subsidies for a well-off industry that they say could easily afford to move to town and build a studio without public dollars. The Nevada State Education Association, which opposed the building of a subsidized baseball stadium on the Las Vegas Strip under the banner "schools over stadiums," has started up a new campaign, dubbed "schools over studios."
Lawmakers will undoubtedly want to settle the financial question before giving the bill final approval. That comes amid questions over holes in the governor's proposed budget and financial uncertainty in Washington, D.C., which has lawmakers worried about the impact of tariffs on foreign goods and how much money the federal government will provide for state programs, including Medicaid.
