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Lawmakers consider hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for the film industry, Oakland A’s

Two men with serious expressions stand outside of a building that reads, “Nevada State Legislature” while looking at someone speaking to them out of the frame. There are many microphones facing the two men.
Lucia Starbuck
/
KUNR Public Radio
Mark Wahlberg (left) and David O’Reilly, chief executive officer at The Howard Hughes Corporation spoke with reporters about the bill to expand the state’s film tax credits in Carson City, Nev. on May 31, 2023.

Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the 2023 Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck checks in with two journalists with The Nevada Independent about proposed legislation to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits to move the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas and expand the film industry in Southern Nevada.

Click here for a transcript of the audio story.


Episode Overview

Earlier this week, lawmakers held a roughly six-hour hearing on the bill to fund a new Oakland Athletics stadium in Las Vegas. The bill proposes up to $380 million in public financing, mainly from the state through tax credits and Clark County bonds. Although there wouldn’t be any new taxes – not all lawmakers are on board.

“The chair of Assembly Ways and Means, the main money committee on the Assembly side, [Democratic Daniele Monroe-Moreno] said that right now she’s a ’Hell no’ on the deal. She cited concerns about investment from the team into the actual community,” said Tabitha Mueller, legislative and health care reporter for The Nevada Independent.

Legislators are also considering $190 million in film tax credits annually, for potentially 20-30 years, which is significantly higher than the current $10 million cap per year. The majority of the money is earmarked for two production campuses in Southern Nevada, including one in partnership with Sony Pictures.

Clark County resident and actor Mark Wahlberg made a special trip to Carson City in the closing days of the session to voice his support.

“As a new resident, I want to be here full-time. I’ve gotten lots of calls from lots of my colleagues asking me how it is. And I’m encouraging people to make the same move,” Wahlberg said to reporters on Thursday.

Lawmakers are weighing the pros and cons of doling out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy corporations.

“The proponents of these deals say, ’We need these to be competitive. Other states are already offering them, and so if we don’t, these big businesses that do create jobs and help diversify our economy, they’re not going to move to Nevada,’ ” said Sean Golonka, politics and data reporter for The Nevada Independent.

Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn more about these proposed deals.


Transcript

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both. Today we’re talking about proposed legislation that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits to move the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas and also expand the film industry. I’m joined by The Nevada Independent’s legislative and health care reporter, Tabitha Mueller, and politics and data reporter, Sean Golanka, to break it all down.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: Earlier this week, lawmakers held a roughly six-hour hearing on the bill to fund a new Oakland Athletics stadium in Las Vegas. First of all, how big is the A’s fan base?

TABITHA MUELLER: The fan base is pretty big, at least in Oakland. Now the question is, how many A’s fans actually come to the games? What we’ve seen is that A’s fans actually camp outside of the baseball stadium to protest the fact that they don’t like the owners. They’re filling roughly 8,000 seats, which is much, much lower than what they say they’ll be able to fill in Las Vegas, which is about 28,000 seats a game.

STARBUCK: The bill proposes up to $380 million in public financing. Where would that revenue come from?

GOLANKA: The bill proposes up to $180 million in transferrable tax credits the team can sell for cash to other companies. Out of that 180 million, the latter 90 million would be funded through revenues generated by the stadium. The county is expected to issue likely upwards of $120 million in bonds. Those would be paid off over 30 years by the tax revenues generated by the stadium. Basically, they draw a circle around the stadium, and that creates this entertainment improvement district where sales taxes, live entertainment taxes, and payroll taxes for the team are all redirected to pay off the public finances that went toward the stadium.

STARBUCK: How did the lawmakers respond during the hearing?

MUELLER: There were a lot of interesting and mixed responses from lawmakers. What was interesting is the chair of Assembly Ways and Means, which is the main money committee on the Assembly side, she said that right now she’s a ‘Hell no’ on the deal and they’re going to have to get her to a ‘Yes.’ She cited concerns about investment from the team into the actual community. The Raiders also made community benefits agreements, but there’s been a lot of consternation around that because those agreements haven’t been followed through that well, is what people are saying.

STARBUCK: Lawmakers are also proposing expanding a film tax credit program by hundreds of millions of dollars. How much do lawmakers wanna put into it and where would it go?

GOLANKA: At its peak, this film tax credit program would have up to $190 million in tax credits available annually. That’s up from the state’s current cap on film tax credits at $10 million annually. We’re currently looking at the 20 to 30-year timeline, it would probably be in the range of $4 billion in film tax credits. We know there may be some amendments coming, but currently, they’re earmarked for a pair of production campuses proposed to be built in Southern Nevada. One of those would be developed by the Howard Hughes Corporation in partnership with Sony Pictures, which is one of the five major film studios in the country. This would also be built in partnership with UNLV, so there’s kind of some educational opportunities there.

STARBUCK: Actor and Washoe County resident Jeremy Renner, known for his role as Hawkeye in the Marvel superhero movies, he made his presence known saying, ‘Make sure Northern Nevada can receive those benefits.’ Where does that conversation stand?

MUELLER: Right now, conversations are ongoing. There’s a proposed amendment going around to make sure that the money that is allocated right now would also include Northern Nevada and perhaps a new space for a potential film school or collaboration with UNR.

GOLANKA: And Lucia I would just add, Jeremy Renner’s not the only heavyweight getting involved. I mean, just minutes before we started recording this, I saw Mark Wahlberg outside the legislature, so you know, some high-profile names getting involved in this effort.

(SOUNDBITE OF MARK WAHLBERG) As a new resident, I want to be here full-time. I’ve gotten lots of calls from lots of my colleagues asking me, you know, how it is, and I’m encouraging people to make the same move.

STARBUCK: This isn’t the first time Nevada has doled out huge tax breaks to corporations. Earlier this year, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development gave Tesla another $330 million in tax abatements. What are the pros and cons of the state making these contributions?

GOLANKA: So I think there are a lot of concerns about giving these really large-scale tax breaks to really wealthy companies. But at the same time, the proponents of these deals say, ‘We need these to be competitive. Other states are already offering them, and so if we don’t these big businesses that do create jobs and help diversify our economy, they’re not going move to Nevada.’

MUELLER: You also need to consider the fact that, look at Tesla, right? We had Tesla move to Northern Nevada. They were given tax breaks under former Gov. Brian Sandoval, now the president of UNR, and as part of that, the state gave up a lot, right? We didn’t get money for infrastructure. We’ve seen a huge need for housing in the local area as more people have moved into the community. However, Northern Nevada wasn’t as negatively affected during the pandemic as Southern Nevada because there were other drivers of the economy here.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)

STARBUCK: Thank you so much to my guests, Tabitha Mueller and Sean Golanka, reporters with The Nevada Independent. I’m Lucia Starbuck and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)

The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.

Lucia Starbuck is an award-winning political journalist and the host of KUNR’s monthly show <i>Purple Politics Nevada</i>. She is passionate about reporting during election season, attending community events, and talking to people about the issues that matter most to them.
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Purple Politics Nevada is produced by KUNR’s Lucia Starbuck. Vicki Adame is the show’s editor, and Crystal Willis is the digital editor. Zoe Malen designed the show’s logo.