AP Photo/Lisa J. Tolda
UNLV President Neal Smatresk testifies for passage of Senate Bill 501 as Chairman James Dean Leavitt and Attorney Mark Fiorentino look on during a joint legislative committee on June 2, 2011.
Monday, June 6, 2011 | 9:52 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Developers lobby lawmakers for arena financing (6-2-2011)
- Mayor: State lawmakers hold key to Las Vegas arena plans (5-26-2011)
- Proposal for south Strip arena hinges on securing financing (5-18-2011)
- Texan closer to bringing arena complex to Las Vegas, signs contract for 51s (5-6-2011)
- Just build it already: Why Las Vegas can’t land a pro sports team (4-18-2011)
- Proposal emerges to build three-stadium complex in downtown Las Vegas (2-8-2011)
- UNLV athletic department sees on-campus stadium as a game-changer (2-1-11)
- Developers put early plans for UNLV stadium, retail district on display (2-1-11)
CARSON CITY - In the end, the pitch just wasn’t good enough.
A bill that would have allowed three arena developers to compete for the public financing of their project died in the final hours of the legislative session Monday night, despite a flurry of last-minute maneuvering to keep parts of it alive.
But after three days of hearings that brought withering scrutiny of the proposals to direct state and local tax dollars to help finance one of the projects, lawmakers simply ran out of time—and patience—to fix the problems in Senate Bill 501. The bill wasn't introduced until the final days of the session.
Lobbyists working the bill pulled the plug shortly after 9 p.m., following a private meeting with lawmakers deciding whether to amend parts of SB 501 into an unrelated bill. That effort failed.
Asked if any elements of the various public financing measures presented to lawmakers would survive, former state Sen. Terry Care answered: “It’ll be the surprise of my lifetime if it does.”
Care was the chief lobbyist for Texas developer Christopher Milam, who had proposed building a $1.9 billion project including a ballpark, arena and stadium near Interstate 15 and Russell Road.
“It was a difficult bill to begin with,” Care said.
Milam’s project was put in competition with a project proposed by UNLV for a stadium and student housing and a third project pitched by the Baltimore-based Cordish Co. for an arena in downtown Las Vegas.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy