Saturday, May 29, 2021 | 11:04 p.m.
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CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers on Saturday introduced a bill that sets spending priorities for the $2.7 billion in federal funding the state is receiving from the congressional American Rescue Plan.
Senate Bill 486 would send $335 million to the Unemployment Compensation Fund, $20.9 million toward the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and $7.6 million toward food insecurity brought on by the economic crisis.
Nevada will initially use the federal monies to backfill its general fund, which was decimated when revenue stopped during pandemic-forced business closures. The exact deficit is unknown, said Chris Brooks, D-Las Vegas, who heads the Senate Finance Committee.
“When the guidelines came out from the Treasury, they came with a relatively complicated calculation to figure out what your lost revenues were as a state and, you know, there’s many streams of revenue,” Brooks said. “They’re going through that process right now.”
The rest of the money will be spent addressing needs such as health care access, public education, disadvantaged communities, strengthening the state’s workforce and infrastructure.
Lawmakers are working long hours in the final days of the session, which concludes at 11:59 p.m. Monday. There’s an outside chance of a special session being called immediately after the regular season to finish the disbursement of the rescue plan funds, Brooks said.
Gov. Steve Sisolak earlier in the session said the monies would be “one of the largest infusions of federal dollars into Nevada in history” and stressed spending the money in an effective manner.
