Legislators revised the 2005 green construction law in 2007 after discovering that it would result in some $900 million in sales and property tax breaks. The new law reduces the tax breaks by approximately half.

Prior to the subcommittee's approval, there was debate whether the companies should meet the new standards under the 2007 legislation. Ultimately it was decided that since some companies' projects were previously approved by the state Tax Commission under the more generous 2005 legislation, those companies should be able to obtain the breaks outlined in the earlier legislation.

The five projects who applied under the earlier legislation are CityCenter, the $7-billion mixed-use project by MG Mirage; the $2.9-billion Fontainebleau project by Jeffrey Soffer, who also heads the Turnberry group of companies; Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s $2-billion Palazzo project; Echelon Place, Boyd Gamin's $4-billion project; and Molasky Corporate Center, an office project in Downtown Las Vegas by the Molasky Group of Companies. The state's Energy Office still must certify that a project has met "green" standards and therefore qualifies for the tax breaks.