As Gov. Joe Lombardo promised on Monday to soon call the Legislature into a special session to handle “unfinished” business, a coalition of Southern Nevada construction, carpentry and building trades unions has been pushing hard behind the scenes to include a major expansion of Nevada’s film tax credit program.

The effort is focused on reviving a proposal sponsored by Assms. Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) and Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas) that died in the Senate on the last day of the 2025 legislative session. 

Leaders of the coalition, consisting of more than 20 local construction and skilled trade unions representing 25,000 members — including the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, Laborers International Union of North America Local 872, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions — told The Nevada Independent in an interview that the proposal will diversify Nevada’s economy and establish thousands of more jobs at a time of great economic uncertainty.

“We’ve got a full-court press coming from our membership. There’s a level of expectation that we deliver jobs. That’s one of our biggest roles as union leaders out there,” said Frank Hawk, the western district vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. 

With two of the biggest names in the film industry — Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery — and Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Holdings involved, the renewed push by the construction trades and the addition of the coalition more broadly promises to add another layer of support for the project, which appeared dead at the end of the state’s 120-day legislative session in June. 

The unions have also funded a new PAC with $1 million to be used for a “public information campaign” about the benefits of film tax credits. 

Still, the project faces headwinds. Lombardo, who said in a press release Monday he will call for a special session sometime in the next few months “to finish what the Legislature left unfinished,” would need to add the film tax expansion measure to the legislative agenda, and proponents would need to win over skeptical lawmakers — including backers of a separate film tax credit proposal supported by Birtcher Development.  

Members of the coalition said they are focusing on Jauregui and Monroe-Moreno’s bill in the form in which it was passed out of the Assembly on a 22-20 vote in May. That bill proposed appropriating $95 million in annual transferable film tax credits for a period of 15 years, beginning in 2028, which would be an 850 percent increase from the existing film tax credit program. The bill would also create a special district whose tax revenues are estimated to bring in about $11 million annually for pre-K in Clark County across the next 17 years.

But in an interview Monday, Sen. Roberta Lange (D-Las Vegas), the proponent of the separate film tax credit proposal, said she would like to see the program expand in Nevada but doesn’t like supporting only one project. 

“I understand that the building trades and the carpenters have a lot of people out of work, and this bill would provide jobs for them, and I get that, and I want that to happen, but I want to make sure that we do it right,” Lange said. “I’ve always been an advocate from the very beginning to merge the bills and to come up with something that works for everybody, and I will continue to push that.”

Lombardo and Democratic legislative leaders did not respond to emailed requests about the special session.

Economists have largely downplayed the economic benefits of film tax credits, with programs in other states not providing much return on investment and even disinvestment over time. 

But coalition members say the Nevada proposal requires an investment from developers and the industry before any money from the state is allocated, estimating that the bill will lead to 19,000 construction jobs and 17,000 permanent jobs.

The effort to bring the Raiders to Nevada almost a decade ago was the only time a similar coalition formed and faced similar naysayers, said Tommy White, the business manager and secretary-treasurer for Local 872. 

“When you look at movie studios, you look at a whole different type of tourism,” White said. “We get this on, we get these built, you’re going to begin to attract a lot more tourists than just want to go and walk the Las Vegas Strip.”

A new PAC

The newly formed Nevada Jobs Now PAC was registered in mid-September and hasn’t submitted any filing reports yet. White said that after deposits made by unions, the PAC’s account is going to be well over $1 million.

Asked for proof, Hawk at an interview with The Indy jokingly picked up a black bag and waved it, while White said, “we have the account balance right in this duffel bag right here.” Hawk subsequently pulled out a $500,000 check made out to the PAC from the Nevada Carpenters’ union as evidence and White said that his union will be matching it. 

Vince Saavedra, executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions, and a board member of the PAC along with White, said it was not intended to get involved in the upcoming election but instead to help the public understand the value of the project.

After lawmakers proposed last-minute changes to the legislation in the final hours of the session, Saavedra said there were lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who may not have fully understood the different elements of the bill. He said he is committed to walking lawmakers through it and helping them gain a better understanding of how it works.

“Our folks need to go to work,” Saavedra said. “I think it’s important to do the right thing for your constituents.”

The focus of unions and other supporters on the jobs creation portion of the bill comes as Strip resort operators are facing the industry’s worst economic downturn since the Great Recession 15 years ago. Tourism and visitation have declined. Strip gaming revenue is up just 1 percent in the first eight months of the year.

One longtime legislative observer, who spoke anonymously to freely share his perspective, said that even if the stated intention of the PAC is not to get involved in elections, successful passage or failure of the film tax credit expansion effort will likely become a campaign issue.

He added that recent economic conditions including projected fewer construction jobs, cuts to federal green energy funding and decreases in public works projects have likely shifted some perspectives on the bill, with lawmakers appearing more open to the proposal now because of the jobs creation potential.

Progressive groups and other opponents, including the Nevada State Education Association and the libertarian political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, pushed back against the legislation during the 2025 session saying the money is better served elsewhere — especially given that expanding film tax credits have a shoddy record in growing the economies of other states.

What’s on the table

Conversations of a special session started ahead of the close of the 2025 Legislature, initially centered on federal changes to Medicaid, but after the session ended, focus quickly pivoted to bills that failed to pass at the end of the 2025 legislative session, including the film tax credit expansion effort and Lombardo’s marquee crime bill.

“The special session conversation is happening as we speak,” Lombardo told KTNV in early August. 

Legislative leaders confirmed to KTNV that discussions were ongoing. Still, a special session is not a foregone conclusion.

Another longtime legislative observer, who spoke on background to freely share information, said that governors will only call a special session if there’s clarity on what needs to be resolved and there’s general consensus from lawmakers on the topics. 

They noted that everything needs to be lined up so lawmakers avoid a lengthy special session that can drive up costs and leave lawmakers in a fundraising blackout period ahead of an election. The period begins the day after the governor issues the proclamation and ends 15 days after the special session adjourns.

“Everybody’s sort of got a hope and wish list, that gets winnowed down because … it may not be urgent enough to rise to a special session consideration level,” the person said. “So there’s lots of different conversations that go on to decide what is eligible to be on the agenda, what needs to be on the agenda versus what can wait.”

A lobbyist who asked not to share his identity because of the sensitivity of the topic said that the governor’s crime bill would likely fit that consensus criteria even after last-minute changes and legislative processes sunk the bill on the final day of the session. 

Read More: Who killed Lombardo’s big crime bill? Procedural delays, last-minute changes blamed

Inclusion of the governor’s health care bill is particularly tricky, the lobbyist said, because of efforts made at the end of session by Democrats to include controversial limitations surrounding freestanding emergency rooms that ultimately led to the bill’s demise.

Meanwhile, film tax proponents and the coalition are pushing forward. 

“Conversations are going to take place all the way going forward. We’re hopeful that it makes the session,” White said. “Let’s say it doesn’t, but I believe this coalition now that has come together is going to be moving forward on other possibilities.”