The Nevada Supreme Court struck down a proposed ballot measure that would have allowed Nevadans to vote on repealing funding for a proposed MLB stadium in Las Vegas.
Last year, Nevada lawmakers approved funding for the ballpark. The ruling from the state’s high court was a blow to detractors of the funding, who saw this as the last attempt to halt the Oakland Athletics’s decision to move to Las Vegas. MLB owners have unanimously approved the team’s move to Las Vegas.
The state’s Supreme Court ruled that the filing for the ballot measure was “misleading” and “explains the general effect of a referendum, but it does not describe the practical effects of this specific referendum.”
The ballot measure, organized by the Schools over Stadiums political action committee, would have allowed voters to overturn a $380 million public financing deal that is set to fund a portion of a proposed $1.5 billion stadium.
The court said that the entire 66-page bill that funded the stadium must be included in the ballot question to provide full context to voters. Schools over Stadiums argued that because ballot measures can be no longer than 200 words, it made it difficult to provide its full context.
The court called the referendum “legally deficient” and, at points, “confusing.”
Justices were split on the measure, with five voting in favor of striking it down, one dissenting, and one dissenting in part. In her dissent, Justice Kristina Pickering disagreed with the idea that all 66 pages of the bill would be needed in the referendum.
“The Stadium Referendum would withdraw state credit and financial support for the stadium project, which in turn could prevent the stadium from being built,” Pickering wrote.
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The ruling comes just 44 days from the petition signature deadline to get a referendum on the November ballot. Schools over Stadiums said it is committed to stopping the public funding of the stadium and will attempt to refile the petition next year.
“While we are organizing toward 2026, Schools Over Stadiums will continue to fund the constitutional challenge to Senate Bill 1,” Schools Over Stadiums said in a statement to the Nevada Independent.
