A’s stadium legislation introduced late Friday in Carson City

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Legislation paving the way to build a $1.5 billion stadium for the A’s move to Las Vegas was introduced Friday night in Carson City.

Up to $380 million in public taxpayer dollars are proposed in the bill. The legislation — Senate Bill 509 (SB509) — creates the “Southern Nevada Tourism Innovation Act” to establish a method to finance the project.

The bill states:

“The contribution of the Stadium Authority to the costs of construction of the Major League Baseball stadium project … must not exceed the lesser of:
(1) The amount of $380,000,000; or
(2) The amount of money generated and contributed to the construction fund by the taxes, fees and charges described in section 29 of this act before the issuance of bonds pursuant to section 34 of this act, plus the amount of $25,000,000 as provided in subsection 3 and the maximum amount that may be raised and contributed to the construction fund from the issuance of bonds and other securities” plus the transferrable tax credits.

The bill sets a cap of $36 million in transferrable tax credits in a fiscal year or $180 million total.

Early reports indicate the legislation was first seen at 8 p.m. in the Nevada State Senate Finance Committee in a “behind the bar” meeting.

The 30,000-seat stadium is expected to take an estimated 18-24 months to build, and it’s currently planned for the site of the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort.

The deal must still win approval in the Legislature and get Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature. If that all doesn’t happen before the Legislature adjourns, a special session might be necessary.

At a Thursday news conference in Carson City, Democratic leaders in the Legislature suggested that they wouldn’t pass any major bills — including the stadium deal and a major economic package for movie studios to invest in Southern Nevada — until Lombardo signed budget bills. That seems unlikely given the current standoff over Lombardo’s priorities from the Legislature.

The stadium deal has already drawn criticism from Battle Born Progress.

“The recent introduction of the A’s stadium bill, which includes a provision capping public financing at $380 million, is a concerning development,” Annette Magnus, executive director, said of the deal. “Even worse than the Raiders stadium deal, this latest proposal promises even less in return for such a wasteful investment and leaves taxpayers entirely on the hook to fill the revenue gap created by this Special Improvement District.”