As Nevada lawmakers have had their hands full this week with the Athletics’ push for a new Las Vegas stadium, team owner John Fisher showed face for the first time Wednesday.
Fisher and team president Dave Kaval spent most of their Wednesday in Carson City to promote Nevada Senate Bill 509, the A’s official pitch for up to $380 million in public funding for the $1.5 billion ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip.
The A’s top brass noticeably was absent from Monday’s hearing, so they got caught up two days later.
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“We have back-to-back meetings,” Kaval told The Nevada Independent.
Sen. Scott Hammond discussed the legislation with Fisher and Kaval for about 15 minutes but said they didn’t talk much about the basics of the public financing piece.
“We only talked in context about the legislation and what was in the community enrollment piece,” Hammond said (h/t The Nevada Independent), adding that “we discussed what has to happen to get this out on Monday."
Monday, June 5 is the final day of the Legislature’s 120-day biennial session.
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“To me, it really is about community involvement," Hammond added. "When a team moves into a community, you want to make sure that they're invested [in the community]."
So far, though, the community and general public aren't very supportive of the bill.
Even though public doesn't actually vote on SB509, citizens still are making sure their voices are heard.
The bill has received 2,370 public opinion positions of which 78 percent oppose the bill and 20 percent support it. The “neutral” option has received zero selections so far.
Anyone can submit their position on the bill, not just Nevada residents. So A’s fans from California and beyond also can weigh in, too.
Hammond added the A’s have “a tremendous amount of support” from organized labor and the Southern Nevada business community.
“There's a lot of vocal people who are opposed to giving any amount of public assistance to any private entity, like a sports team,” Hammond said. “But there are a lot of people who understand that when you invest public dollars it has to be the right investment.”