Senate chaos killed 2 Lombardo bills, film studio proposal
CARSON CITY — As the clock ticked toward midnight Monday, the deadline for which legislators must finish their business, the 2025 legislative session veered into gridlock, leaving most of Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature policy bills dead unless he calls a special session.
The biggest talk of the 120-day session was a multibillion-dollar tax proposal to bring a film studio to Summerlin. But it failed to move forward, and a last-minute proposed amendment to turn it into a study suggested the bill did not have the votes to pass. Backers Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A few of the governor’s major policy proposals also died, including his plan to reform health care policies and toughen retail theft and other criminal penalties.
Those bills were still awaiting consideration when Republican state senators held up proceedings in the final minutes of the session after they learned they’d have unequal representation in the legislative commission, a committee that exercises general policy-making and supervising authority over the operations of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
“It really was about principle and representation,” Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus, R-Wellington, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal early Tuesday morning. “And when this whole session has been about communication, this whole session has been about getting along, and it truly was, and it’s terrible that it ends with this.”
Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, stalled by calling for procedural recounts of votes and speaking for about 10 minutes to run out the clock. After it hit midnight, Titus and others argued that constitutionally no other business could occur, and legal counsel had to be called. Ultimately the Senate concluded it would finish a vote that was in progress at midnight, then adjourn.
“Certainly, taking a lot of time to do antics on the floor makes it tough to get business done, for sure,” Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, said after the clock ran out.
On the other side of the legislative building, the Assembly cranked out votes and announced it was ready to adjourn at about midnight.
Titus said she did not want the governor to call a special session, even though some good bills were not able to make it through.
“Special sessions, in my mind, are for an emergency process,” she said in the early hours of Tuesday morning. “It costs the taxpayers money. It costs us all time.”
Film studio a bust — again
Republicans’ actions prevented the Senate from getting to discussions on Assembly Bill 238, a proposal that would have helped create the Summerlin Studios film campus by using tax incentives. But it appeared on its way to failure hours earlier. Senate Democratic leaders continually put the bill at the bottom of their agenda throughout Monday evening, and a last-minute amendment proposed gutting the bill entirely in favor of studying the viability of a film and creative media industry in the state.
Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, proposed that amendment with about four hours to go in the session. Lange was the sponsor of a competing bill that detailed a film studio project at a different location with different partners. Senate Bill 220 would have created Nevada Studios at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park in southwest Las Vegas. But it never moved out of committee.
Lange first floated the concept of using the state’s existing film production tax credit program from its $10 million annual allocation to build two film studios in the 2023 legislative session. The bill that year did not receive a floor vote.
AB238 was going to be challenging to pass in the Senate. A Friday vote in the Assembly was tight, at 22-20, with a mix of support and opposition from members of both parties.
“We are disappointed in the outcome; our project is a tremendous opportunity in the best interest of all Nevadans, creating thousands of jobs at a time when Nevada needs them most,” Howard Hughes Corp., the would-be developer of Summerlin Studios, said in a Tuesday statement.
Lombardo faces legislation loss
Three of five of the governor’s priority legislation items did not come to fruition in the Democratic-majority Legislature.
His health care reform bill, Senate Bill 495, passed out of the Senate with last-minute amendments that included prohibiting new freestanding emergency rooms from being within a 5-mile radius of an existing center or hospital. But it failed to get a vote in the Assembly.
The governor’s signature crime bill, Senate Bill 457, also failed after the Senate did not have time to agree on amendments made in the Assembly, and his bill on economic development never received committee votes.
Lombardo framed the session as a success in his post-session statement.
“As the session concludes, I’m proud to report that we’ve made significant progress in our two most critical endeavors this session: combating the rising cost of housing and improving outcomes in our K-12 education system,” he said in a Tuesday statement.
Major bills that passed
Despite the film-worthy drama in the Senate and the death of major bills, significant policy proposals moved forward.
A bipartisan compromise to bring forward education reform in Nevada passed in the waning hours of the session. The bill, known as the EDUCATE Act, will bring about a statewide system of accountability for school districts and expand pre-kindergarten programs and open enrollment.
Lombardo touted the success of the bill in a statement, calling it “historic education choice and accountability.”
“We implemented open zoning so our children can attend the school that best fits their educational needs, and we provided resources to allow those children trapped in underperforming schools transportation to attend the school of their choice — regardless of their ZIP code,” he said. “Simply put, we have instituted more educational accountability measures than during any legislative session in the history of Nevada.”
An election bill put forward by Speaker Steve Yeager — also a result of a compromise with the governor — will set forth voter ID requirements in the state, a major win for Lombardo, who has long advocated for tighter voter laws. The bill, Assembly Bill 499, also will expand ballot drop boxes to include the period between early voting and Election Day, a provision that Lombardo had originally vetoed.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com and McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah and @mckenna_ross_ on X.