Big delays, lots of lobbyists and no votes on first day of Tesla session

By Kyle Roerink, Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 | 11:40 p.m.

The first day of the Tesla special session was politics as usual in Nevada. Nothing started on time. Lobbyists flooded the halls of the Legislature. Lots of business was done behind closed doors. The Assembly heard testimony on three bills. The Senate heard testimony on none.

There was only one certainty: Tesla will come to Nevada.

Here’s a look at day one of the Nevada Legislature's Tesla special session, the 28th in the state's 150 history.

On Thursday, the Senate is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and the Assembly at 9:30 am. The Sun will have live updates all day.

The Senate

Senators didn’t do much official business Wednesday. They spent the majority of the day waiting for the Legislature’s legal department to vet the Senate’s “big bill,” a 40-page draft outlining the majority of the tax abatements Tesla will receive. The bill was introduced around 9:45 p.m.

Throughout the day, Senate leaders and lobbyists walked between their offices and the lawyers' offices. Mike Wilden, Gov. Brian Sandoval’s chief of staff, also made jaunts between the two offices.

“There’s always minor wrinkles,” he said. “As long as it's going to Tesla, they will be ironed out.”

As veteran legislators and lobbyists expected, the long day got off to a slow start.

Sandoval issued a proclamation for the session to start at noon. The Senate convened at 1:45 p.m. It took care of about 20 minutes of ceremonial business and then recessed for about 25 minutes because of technical difficulty.

When senators convened, Assistant Senate Minority Leader Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, asked for a one-minute recess. It lasted 16 minutes and 30 seconds.

They followed that with the nearly 8-hour break.

“This is not unusual,” said Carole Vilardo, Nevada Taxpayer Association president and lobbyist.

The Assembly

Democratic Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick led the Assembly with a mix of humor and a consummate understanding of the legislation up for discussion. Two of the three bills discussed had precedents with legislation she sponsored in the past.

Kirkpatrick advised the Assembly members to pace themselves. “Be patient, rest, eat and read bills,” she said at the start of the day.

The Assembly didn’t vote on any legislation but had hearings on three bills. The bills addressed how Tesla can receive a discounted rate on its electricity bill, the carmaker’s desire to sell cars directly to consumers and the reduction of a tax credit for insurers to help fund Tesla's deal.

The utility tax break is an extension of an existing bill. A representative of NV Energy testified that it will increase the cost of electric bills by $1.84 a year to homeowners in Northern Nevada.

The tax advantage will allow Tesla to save 30 percent on its power bills for two years; 20 percent for four years and then 10 percent for two years. The credit would then be ended.

Tesla must operate in Nevada for 10 years or the money from the tax break must be refunded. Tesla has said it’s going to rely on sun, wind and geothermal resources for its power when the company is built.

The direct car sales bill would permit Tesla and other manufacturers of electric cars the right to sell and repair their vehicles without going through a dealer. An amendment was proposed by the dealers trade group that electric car companies that came to Nevada after January 2016 would not be granted this advantage. It has yet to be voted on.

Elections

Democrats and Republicans equally expressed joy about Tesla and appeared to be in lockstep on passing the deal.

But that doesn’t mean lawmakers weren’t thinking about campaigns and their opposition.

All Assembly members are up for re-election and 11 Senate seats are up for grabs.

But the headline matchup this election season is for lieutenant governor. Both candidates are in the Legislature: Democratic Assemblywoman Lucy Flores and Republican Sen. Mark Hutchison. It's a proxy battle between Sandoval, a Republican, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the politicians who hand-picked their party's candidate.

Flores spoke often on the floor, questioning many of the bills. She asked state leaders questions about the deal's “transparency” and “accountability,” access to public records and use of public funds.

Hutchison had no opportunity to weigh in on any bills because the Senate didn’t discuss any. (He did have a few Twitter posts during the day.)

A done deal

Nevada beat out four other states to win Tesla. If the bills die, so would the deal. No one knows that better than lawmakers.

Lawmakers “could decide not to pass the bill” but that "would be foolish,” said Pat Hickey, the Republican Assembly minority leader.

“We want it. I think the people of Nevada want it,” he said

Late Wednesday, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported that Senate Democrats had been lobbying Sandoval to restore cuts he'd made to film tax credits to fund Tesla's tax breaks. Las Vegans visited Carson City on Wednesday to protest the cuts that would mostly hit movie productions in Southern Nevada.

Sandoval proposed cutting the film tax credit from $80 million to $10 million. Senate Democrats asked to restore some of those cuts. The governor said no, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal's report.

"That's a tough one for my caucus," Sen. Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, and the chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, told the paper. "A lot of time and effort was spent on it in the last legislative session, and it has only been in effect for nine months and we are already dialing it back?"

The Senate will begin debating those tax breaks at 9 a.m.