A's Ballpark Bill in Las Vegas to go to Special Session on Wednesday Morning
The last six weeks have been filled with ups and downs for Oakland A's fans. The past 24 hours have brought incredible highs, and the newly familiar sense of dread. After the June 5th legislative session deadline passed on Monday, it looked like there could be an opening for the A's to return to the table to discuss a ballpark deal with the city of Oakland. Mayor Sheng Thao re-iterated on Tuesday that the city and the A's are very close to a deal, if they want to re-open negotiations.
Instead, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is calling a second special session on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to discuss the A's ballpark bill (SB509).
What this means for the project overall still isn't known. Fans on social media are very concerned that a deal has been struck, and that could very well be the case. But the most recent reports on the bill have been that it has been losing popularity among the lawmakers, in part due to how unpopular the bill has been to their constituents. The online poll for Nevada residents has never shown less than 70% disapproval, and of the 17 letters submitted as exhibits for the legislation, 15 of them are in opposition.
Wednesday could be a formality to give SB509 an official yay or nay vote. Joe Lombardo could say he advocated for the bill, and brought it to a vote, and the democrats, who have the majority in the senate and in the assembly, can say they held firm on this bill that they don't feel is a good deal for Nevada.
This bill is borderline toxic, and there are a lot of people watching closely in Nevada and in California. If this bill goes through, it could be damaging to quite a few political careers.
The bill that will be discussed is the bill that has already been introduced. There have been no amendments. Now we will get to see just how much support the bill has.
Wednesday could be the final day of not knowing what the A's fate is in Nevada.