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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager said he advised Gov. Joe Lombardo to have a special session on the Athletics stadium subsidy bill later in the summer so that the proposed legislation could be “further refined,” but Lombardo showed a new sense of urgency to deal with the A’s stadium bill, Yeager wrote in a Twitter thread Saturday.
“The day after the regular (82nd) session adjourned, the Senate Majority Leader and I met with the Governor. Contrary to what (Lombardo) had told me the night before, he indicated that he was going to call a second special session related to the A’s,” Yeager wrote.
“We advised him that it would be better to have a special session on the A’s later in the summer, which would give legislators and staff time to recover from the end of session and get back to their jobs/families and allow the A’s bill to be further refined,” said Yeager, a Democrat representing the Assembly’s 9th District in the southwest Las Vegas Valley.
Yeager said Lombardo’s “sudden sense of urgency was surprising” because the governor did not indicate there was an urgency during the 120-day session, Yeager said.
“The sudden sense of urgency was surprising because there seemed to be no sense of urgency about this during the regular session. Indeed, the original A’s legislation, #AB509, wasn’t introduced until May 26th, with just 10 days left in the 120 day session,” he wrote.
We made (it) clear all along that we would need sufficient time to vet any proposal relating to the A’s. — Nevada Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager
But on Monday, the A’s stadium deal is scheduled to be addressed by state lawmakers, even though Assembly and Senate leaders told Lombardo that it would have been better to tackle S.B. 1 later in the summer.
Yeager said the did not want the A’s stadium subsidy bill to be a “ram and jam.”
“The redo of that budget bill ultimately didn’t get signed until the very last night of the regular session, a few hours before midnight, which obviously left no time for consideration of #SB509, which we said time and time again would not be a ‘ram and jam,’ Yeager wrote in the Twitter thread.
Disregarding our advice to wait on calling a special session, the Governor called it anyway. Normally special sessions for policy issues are coordinated in terms of scheduling & there is a general consensus that folks are likely to be supportive of the contemplated legislation. — Nevada Assemblyman Steve Yeager
The Athletics stadium bill would authorize $380 million in government assistance, including $120 million in Clark County bonds, to help build a $1.5 billion stadium at the Tropicana hotel-casino site at Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard on the Strip.
The Athletics’ representatives — LVCVA chief Steve Hill and pro-sports consultant Jeremy Aguero — said 17 different taxes on items sold in a nine-acre stadium sports and entertainment district would generate enough revenue over 30 years to pay the debt on the bonds sold to help finance the A’s venue. The A’s say it’s possible to build the stadium on nine acres of Tropicana’s 35-acre site on the Strip.
“We will be back on Monday to continue this process and thoughtfully consider whether #SB1 is in the best interest of Nevada,” Yeager wrote. “We realize there are strong opinions on this topic but we, as legislators, are just trying to do the right thing here, despite all the noise.”