VICTOR JOECKS: Lombardo flirts with film tax flip-flop

If you want to know why Hollywood handouts are a bad idea, just listen to Gov. Joe Lombardo.

In February, Steve Sebelius of KTNV-TV, Channel 13, interviewed Lombardo. Sebelius asked him about Democrat efforts to pass a film tax credit program.

“The narrative you just provided, I’m not supportive as the governor,” Lombardo said. Further, “I just don’t see that being good policy, good investments for the constituents and the state of Nevada.”

That’s certainly true. Transferable film tax credits are financial losers. They don’t just exempt productions from paying the sales tax or modified business tax. Transferable tax credits can be sold, which means they function as de facto subsidies. In a 2023 report, Georgia found that its long-established film tax credit program returned around 20 cents on the dollar. That’s a disaster to avoid, not a path to follow.

“And you also have to be really careful in trying to convince the public it’s a good way to do business when they see that there’s such massive companies,” Lombardo said.

He was right on the politics, too. The public is rightfully skeptical about subsidizing “massive companies.” In May, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development released an outside analysis of the Summerlin Studios project.

“State and local governments will recover 52 cents of every dollar in tax credits based on the Summerlin Studios analysis,” the report found.

Yet, now Lombardo sounds open to this scheme. He says he intends to call a special legislative session. It’s possible he may put the same film subsidy bill he recently trashed on the agenda. He now labels it a jobs bill.

What’s changed? Lombardo and his political team appear worried about an economic slowdown. They want a supposed jobs win to impress voters.

On a purely political level, this makes little sense. The economy is something voters feel in their personal lives. Giving $1.5 billion to Hollywood won’t help someone struggling to pay for groceries or make housing more affordable.

It won’t even provide much help with employment. A worker on the Strip who has had his hours reduced won’t be looking for a construction job in Summerlin. Construction employment is down from its post-pandemic high, but it remains higher than it was in 2019. It’s possible that drop is largely because of more robust immigration enforcement.

If Lombardo is so desperate to employ construction workers, he should subsidize more home construction. At least that would help Nevada families.

Another irony is that Attorney General Aaron Ford has long championed film tax credits. In 2013, he was the lead sponsor of a film tax credit bill.

If Lombardo supports Hollywood handouts, he would be telling voters that they can’t trust him. That his best idea for economic development is something his opponent came up with 12 years ago. That he won’t do anything for conservatives but take their votes for granted.

Lombardo was right in February. This potential flip-flop could cost both taxpayers and his re-election campaign dearly.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen to him discuss his columns each Monday at noon with Kevin Wall on AM 670 KMZQ Right Talk. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.