Let’s be clear: This is the Tesla Special Session

Assemblyman James Healy, D-Las Vegas, thinks the media may be a bit too cynical in its coverage of the Tesla special session. He took to Facebook today to complain about the coverage, and set everybody straight:

I think it is important to remind everyone, despite what the media headlines are reading, this Special Session is to address economic development legislation. It is not company specific, and would apply to any company that would qualify. Paving the road to a better Nevada. Good hard questions are being asked so we can ensure we make policy that benefits Nevada.

That’s disingenuous at best, and downright false at worst.

While the bills don’t ever mention Tesla by name, there’s no question which company benefits from the proposed legislation. In fact, Tesla is the only company that has negotiated with Nevada to get a huge incentive package. Tesla is the only company that can qualify for a $3.5 billion threshold reportedly included in the state Senate’s incentive bill. And Tesla will be the only company to qualify for other benefits, including a bill heard by the Assembly today that enables certain companies licensed by a particular date to sell electric cars directly to the public.

Oh, by the way: The state of Nevada will be paying $43 million for the right of way, and an additional $60 million or so, to literally pave the way to Tesla’s front door by improving a road that connects I-80 with Highway 50! You can argue whether that is progress toward a better Nevada, but you cannot argue that Tesla isn’t the sole beneficiary of that road, or of the rest of the package that’s being considered.

And it’s excellent that good, hard questions are being asked. That is, after all, the job of the Legislature. It’s the job of the press to note when lawmakers are trying to portray an issue in a way that’s just not true.