Oral arguments set in A’s, teachers union legal tussle

The Nevada Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next month regarding a lower court judge’s decision to block a political action committee from challenging public funding for the Oakland Athletics’ Las Vegas ballpark.

The arguments between Schools Over Stadiums, created by the Nevada State Education Association, and A’s lobbyists Danny Thompson and Thomas Morley are set for April 9, according to court records filed last week.

“Schools Over Stadiums is confident in our position,” SOS spokesman Alexander Marks said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We believe the Nevada Supreme Court’s request for oral argument is a good sign.”

Bradley Schrager, Thompson and Morley’s lawyer, declined to comment.

The matter revolves around a law passed last year that earmarks up to $380 million in public financing for the A’s planned $1.5 billion, 33,000-fan-capacity ballpark to be constructed on the Strip.

Schools Over Stadium’s appealed a November 2023 ruling by District Judge James Russell in favor of the A’s lobbyists who filed a lawsuit to have a ballot petition, filed in September by Schools Over Stadiums, halted.

Thompson and Morley’s lawsuit claimed the PAC’s referendum petition was misleading, because it only included portions of legislation which were targeted by Schools Over Stadiums, and not the entire language of the bill signed into law.

If their appeal is successful the PAC would be required to collect 102,362 verified signatures of registered Nevada voters who voted in the 2022 general election to get the A’s public financing plan on the ballot for November’s elections.

Schools Over Stadiums would have until July 8 to collect the needed signatures get the stadium funding initiative on the 2024 ballot.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.