Lombardo Signs Government Modernization Act And A’s Bill

Today, Governor Lombardo announced his signing of Senate Bill 431, the Government Modernization and Efficiency Act. Yesterday, the Governor announced his signature on SB1, the A’s Stadium bill.

SB 431 is divided into five main categories: State Employee Management, State Fiscal Management, Governor’s Office Management and creates offices for boards, commissions and council.

The original bill proposed to limit the Governor’s emergency powers to 90 days, but the bill was heavily amended– with entire pages and paragraphs eliminated–and seemingly removed that limitation and numerous other proposals, such as renaming and reforming  the Department of Training and Workforce Rehabilitation.

Late yesterday, the Governor signed SB1, the A’s Stadium Bill, and through his signature, reversed two of his vetoes. The bill provides $380 million in public financing for their stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I’m excited to officially sign SB1 this afternoon,” said Governor Joe Lombardo. “This is an incredible opportunity to bring the A’s to Nevada, and this legislation reflects months of negotiations between the team, the state, the county, and the league. Las Vegas’ position as a global sports destination is only growing, and Major League Baseball is another tremendous asset for the city.”

As exclusively reported by the Globe, the A’s must also sign a Community Benefits Agreement, which swung many Democrats to support the legislation. Democratic Assembly Leader Steve Yeager took to Twitter today in a lengthy thread of support, referring to the agreement as “the best in the country”:

I heard the concerns about the ownership group and their unwillingness to spend in Oakland. I believe that will be different in Las Vegas. There will be additional accountability to the Stadium Authority Board and we will have the best community benefits agreement in the country.

— Steve Yeager (@SteveYeagerNV) June 16, 2023

The agreement (see below) is, in essence, a Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE) agreement which lists numerous terms and conditions. In total, there are 13 provisions to this binding agreement that the A’s, any development partner and stadium operator must provide through cash or in-kind donations to various organizations and causes, and financial investments in underserved communities.

Tomorrow, the Governor is scheduled to speak at the Basque Fry in Gardnerville followed by the Golden Knights Stanley Cup parade in Las Vegas.  The Globe has learned that the Governor may not be able to attend the Basque Fry due to travel limitations and the timing of each event.