While the film industry in the state wants to see changes to the tax credit structure, those kinds of changes usually come with a big debate.

And as we just heard, it's likely to be one of many, many bills we'll see introduced this legislative session up in Carson City.

And joining us now with the latest on this state legislature is John Golonka, reporter with the Nevada Independent.

Thanks so much for joining us, Sean.

Thanks, Mary.

I'm glad to be here.

Now we are in let's see that 80.

The first month, right?

A month has already passed.

The 82nd session of the Nevada legislature kicked off a lot going on.

Some important deadlines coming up in March.

Let's talk about those deadlines.

Right.

So we're only a month in and we're approaching mid-March.

Coming up, March 20th is the first major deadline that's for legislators to introduce their bills.

And then just one week after that, March 27th is the deadline for all bill introductions.

So basically, any bills must be introduced within the next couple of weeks.

And let's talk about this.

We're not talking about just like ten, 20, 30 bills.

We're talking hundreds of bills.

Right, exactly.

So already within the first month, lawmakers have introduced more than 500 bills and already there have been another 500, 600 or so that have been requested for drafting but have not yet been introduced.

And so there's a short time frame to get those actually introduced.

And Sean, when we talk about these bills being introduced.

We do tend to hear some very emotional testimony.

And yesterday was one of those days with AB 125, a bill that's directly impacting our indigenous communities here in Nevada.

Right.

And so that is about murdered and missing indigenous women.

And really it's about accountability and making sure that we're keeping track of those women because there's really a lack of data, you know, tracking that that that kind of criminal activity.

And Shawn, that's an issue that impacts not just women, indigenous women here in Nevada, but throughout the country.

One of many issues that we'll be hearing about.

Just last month, it was Nevada tribes legislation, legislative day on February 14th.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the other key issues and legislation that will be introduced when it comes to our indigenous community here in Nevada.

Right.

So I think one key piece of legislation for that community is a bill that would expand tuition waivers for tribal students, basically waiving any tuition fees for those students seeking to attend the university or college in Nevada.

I think a little more broadly, we're seeing bills that deal with representation in government, you know, for so long, these indigenous communities have been shut out of the conversations.

They've been shut out of, you know, just governance in the state.

And so we're seeing bills that would put more tribal liaisons in state government to communicate with those communities.

And let's talk about some of our tribal leaders they worked very hard to get.

A.V.

Club May designated as a national monument.

We had heard that President Joe Biden was coming is coming into Las Vegas, southern Nevada.

And on the 14th of March, he was scheduled to designate it as an official monument.

Then all of a sudden, that changed what happened?

You know, I'm not I'm not quite sure why we saw that flip flop based on what we know that President Joe Biden will be talking about prescription drug pricing and that this is part of a larger Western states trip for the president.

I imagine this is kind of the ramp up to his reelection campaign.

And he's talking about some key policy goals rather than the national monument.

And what we are hearing is that he is hosting a private fundraiser, Correct.

Is that what you're hearing as well?

Yes, I have heard that.

And let's talk a little bit.

Last time when your colleague, your wonderful colleague Tabitha, was on, we were talking about Tesla, the there continue to make headlines.

They are getting more than $330 million in tax abatements.

Those are tax breaks.

What's going on?

What's the latest with that?

So I've been covering this closely and that was really the last development is the governor's Office of Economic Development Board approved those pretty substantial tax breaks for the company as they look to expand the Nevada Gigafactory.

And now they're basically proceeding with that process.

But some Democratic lawmakers have said, we want to weigh in.

Senator Dina Neal plans to bring forward a bill that would grant the legislature process or power of the abatement process rather than the executive branch.

Ed, let's talk about this because you guys are really good about separating fact from fiction.

And one of the big things that that is a governor is a state giving money to Tesla that is not the case correctly where they're getting tax breaks.

Right.

This is a very different thing.

The government is not giving any sort of taxpayer money to Tesla.

Basically, what a tax abatement is, is a reduction in the tax rate that the company pays over a set number of years.

So, for example, with this newest expansion, the company will not be paying any property taxes for ten years, but they're not receiving any money from the state.

And Tesla, not the only company that would benefit from this.

Exactly.

Tesla is the only company to benefit from it on on this scale, this massive multibillion dollar scale.

But other companies are granted tax abatements a lot at the time.

Now, I do want to talk a little bit about what's going on in a few weeks in detox.

Right.

So in Detox, March 21st in Reno, we're going to be having a conversation with four legislative leaders, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, Assembly Minority Leader P.K.

O'Neal, Senate Minority Leader, Senate Minority Leader Heidi Sievers Gansler and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Azaro all together in Reno, March 21st, just to have a conversation about the legislature.

And then the great thing that I love about you guys is the fact that you are keeping us informed.

Everything that's happening with the Nevada legislature.

I love your the way you help us track those bills and keep up to date on what's going on.

You have a great resource on your website.

Yes.

So we are tracking bills and policy discussions.

We have a policy tracker that also includes a spreadsheet tracker of specific bills, and we're keeping those up to date with the latest developments in the session.

Shawn, thanks again for joining us.

We'll check back with you guys in about two weeks.

And thank you at home for joining us for this edition of Nevada Week.

For any of the resources discussed on today's show, go to our website, Vegas pbs.org.

Slash Nevada Week.