Nevada Teachers Union Takes Swing At Athletics Stadium Subsidy Bill With PAC That Plans Litigation, Voter Campaign In Effort To Reverse $380 Million Ballpark Subsidy
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The Strip, where it’s OK to suspend reality because entertainment is rule one, is slated to host a Major League Baseball stadium in 2028 after the Oakland Athletics blew into the Nevada state capitol this year and came away with $380 million in government assistance to help build a 30,000-seat ballpark.
To the public, it was like a magic act, kind of like the ones you see on the Strip. The slight of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s political hand gave the public the first impression that the A’s would be treated like any other California-based company that could apply for Nevada’s economic incentive programs.
Then in mid-June, the Athletics — with the help of Las Vegas’ public tourism chief, a sports promotion consultant and the state treasurer plus unions and business leaders– convinced state lawmakers in both houses to approve a bill in a special session. And then Lombardo completed the political magic trick. Voila — the governor signed the $380 million A’s stadium subsidy bill.
Consultant Jeremy Aguero (left) and LVCVA chief Steve Hill (right)
Many local Las Vegas residents didn’t so much oppose the bill as much as they were indifferent as their bread-and-circus focus was trained on the homegrown Vegas Golden Knights capturing a Stanley Cup championship, not an Oakland baseball team seeking public economic assistance to help build a ballyard on the Strip.
In fact, some residents joked about the stadiums vs schools public policy debate. Noted one Las Vegan at a Las Vegas Aviators Triple-A minor league game a few days ago, “If you want an education, move to Massachusetts.”
The Nevada State Education Association didn’t see any humor in the priority of stadiums over schools. The NSEA formed a political action committee with plans of litigation and a statewide voter campaign in an effort to thwart the government aid of $380 million for an Athletics stadium on the Tropicana hotel site on the Strip.
LVSportsBiz.com asked the NSEA’s communications director about why the organization of more than 13,000 members created the PAC to oppose the A’s stadium subsidy deal.
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LVSportsBiz.com: What is the official name of the PAC and how did you come up with the name?
Alexander Marks of NSEA: The official name is Schools Over Stadiums. The name represents NSEA’s vision for new priorities in Nevada. While Nevada leaders talk a lot about funding public education, their actions indicate they prioritize stadiums over schools. Before and throughout Session, there was talk of “the stadium bill”, but no one had seen any language. We finally saw it on Memorial Day, which was Day 113 of 120 of the session. On that day, the stadium became the focus of the legislature. While we were able to stop it during the regular session, the stadium bill distracted from many of the issues in public education left unaddressed. John Fisher and his lobbyists were able to get a special session to approve $380M for his stadium, while educators were never even able to get a hearing on reducing class sizes in our schools.
LVSB: Will this PAC help pay for a lawsuit in an effort to reverse the $380 million government assistance to the Oakland Athletics for their stadium?
NSEA: The PAC will contribute to every possible effort to stop the use of public funds to subsidize the new stadium. At this point, our plans include litigation and a statewide voter campaign; we’re committed to reviewing all options to make clear that public funds should go to public education, not a California billionaire.
LVSB: What is the most troubling part of the A’s stadium subsidy deal for the NSEA?
NSEA: The most troubling part for Nevada educators has been the lack of focus by our elected officials year after year. Certainly, the principled standpoint that public funds should not go to a California billionaire for a stadium is troubling, but Nevada’s priorities are upside down. We had an opportunity to do far more this Legislative Session and we came up short. Nevada ranks 48th in per-pupil funding and we have the largest class sizes in the country. All session we heard about “record revenues” but state leaders refused to take the bold action necessary to dramatically improve our schools. They bragged about the “historic” funding for public education this session, but they failed to acknowledge that the record inflation of the past couple of years eats away most of that increase. This “historic funding” still leaves Nevada over $4000 less per pupil than where we should be.
Meanwhile, the Legislature has yet to address the recommendations made by its own Commission on School Funding to get the state to optimal funding. The Legislature didn’t hear a single bill to reduce class sizes, because they thought those proposals would be too expensive. The Legislature refused to move money from the rainy day fund for a 20% across-the-board educator raise to help address the crisis in educator vacancies because it was too expensive. Everything in education is too expensive, but if a billionaire needs public funds for a stadium, state leaders fall all over themselves to get them public money. It’s troubling how many issues went unaddressed in 120 days. Educators would have loved an additional eight days in a Special Session dedicated solely to the bills that failed to move forward in the Regular Session, but they aren’t billionaires with an army of lobbyists to convince the Governor and Legislature.
Proposed ballpark site — Tropicana hotel
LVSB: Why do you think elected officials prioritize sports subsidies over public needs such as schools, health care, and public transportation in Nevada?
NSEA: Jeff Van Gundy said, “Your decisions reveal your priorities.” We feel this sums up the state of politics in Nevada. The Governor and legislature moved the needle ever so slightly on education funding, so they were able to pivot to their real priorities. Nevada is the only state to get all F’s from the Education Law Center on education funding. A special session to deliver for the A’s is why Nevada gets all the F’s. Educators face immense scrutiny when we propose bills for educator raises, class size reduction, or simply remove bureaucratic paperwork from teachers’ day-to-day responsibilities. But when it comes to a stadium, there wasn’t the same level of scrutiny. A billionaire asked for it. Nevada did it. Schools over Stadiums hopes to flip the priorities for a majority of elected officials. Public funds should deliver a world-class education for our kids, not a world-class stadium for John Fisher.
LVSB: To what extent were you disillusioned by elected lawmakers who seemed to ask pointed questions about the Athletics stadium subsidy deal during hearings but then voted for the bill? Why do you think they voted yes for the stadium government assistance?
NSEA: Educators were very disillusioned and frustrated throughout the entire process. For starters, they feel shut out from engaging (i.e. turning off the telephonic public comment period for the “Informal Presentation” that seemed suspiciously like a bill hearing…). Our members were actively engaged throughout the Regular Session on a host of issues. During committee hearings, they shared heartbreaking stories about what it’s like to work as an educator in Nevada right now. Funding is certainly important, but so is respect. NSEA helped get some good bills passed this Session. We made some progress on school safety and made a small step on education funding, but bills to extend summer school, provide free school meals for kids, and ensure every school had a campus security monitor were all vetoed. Legislation to provide a clean 20% educator raise and to reduce class sizes were never given hearings. Educators see the same issues year after year piling up, and now the State has moved onto a new shiny object. And to top it off, many elected officials even justified their vote on the stadium because they felt they did a good enough job on education. Lots of educators found that logic frustrating and puzzling.
Alan Snel: Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com.
Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle.
In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com.
After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent.
Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.