Nevada lawmakers OK $335m deal to lure electric carmaker

Nevada lawmakers approved a $335 million incentive package to attract upstart electric carmaker Faraday Future’s billion-dollar factory to a hardhit Las Vegas suburb, even though the company has yet to unveil a concept car or bring a product to market.

The state Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal Saturday, after a four-day special session in Carson City. Lawmakers learned last week that Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting was backing the secretive California-based company, which employs some former Tesla Motors executives, and that Faraday plans to bring 4,500 direct jobs to Nevada.

“This is a watershed moment,” said Democratic state Sen. Pat Spearman, whose district encompasses part of recession-battered North Las Vegas. “I will be happy to go back to my constituents and say the darkness that has overshadowed us has lifted.”

The Senate had already approved the four bills implementing the agreement. Republican Gov Brian Sandoval, who’s championed the deal as a boon to Nevada, planned to sign them.

The deal comes a little more than a year after state lawmakers approved a $1.3 billion incentive package to land a massive Tesla battery factory outside of Reno. Nevada officials said the deals are reshaping and diversifying the state’s economy after decades of tying its fate to casinos.

“This is a huge win for Southern Nevada,” said the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, a key proponent of the deal. “Nevada is quickly becoming the launching pad for ambitious companies that will play a critical role in reshaping the way we think about transportation.”

Nevada triumphed over California, Louisiana and Georgia in the bid to land the factory. The state will offer $215 million in tax credits and abatements, and publicly finance $120 million in infrastructure improvements at an underdeveloped industrial park in the City of North Las Vegas. (AP)