Wednesday, June 22, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The Interim Finance Committee approved a variety of spending allocations at its meeting Tuesday, including $75.9 million for free school meals next year in Nevada public schools.
“This past spring Congress chose not to pass the waivers or the fundings that allow for universal school meals to continue for this next school year,” Jennifer Ott, Department of Agriculture director, said during the meeting, “which left many of Nevada’s children, almost 50% of Nevada’s children, without a guaranteed school meal for this next school year.”
The Department of Agriculture will offer one more year of free lunches so children will have a “little bit of certainty and nutrition and food in their lives,” Ott said.
“Spending money on feeding kids breakfast and lunch in school so we don’t discriminate between the haves and have-nots at the school and we take that component out and every kid gets a lunch is well worth spending,” said Vice Chair Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, a Democrat. “I know there’s other issues in the state, but I think feeding kids should be one of our top priorities.”
The measure passed almost unanimously, with only Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama voting against it. Kasama said she’d rather see something bigger done with the money, such as a Section 8 housing program to help people with the high cost of housing.
The committee also approved:
$15 million for the Elementary and Secondary Relief Fund in the State Educational Agency category to go toward summer enrichment programs and after-school programs.
$5.9 million for forest fire emergency responses. Ryan Shane, deputy administrator with the Nevada Division of Forestry, said with the multiyear drought, the wildfire season is extending each year.
$200 million toward grants to qualifying school districts and university schools for “profoundly gifted pupils” to augment programs started to address the impacts of learning loss during COVID-19. The funds were set aside during the 2021 Legislative Session.
$50 million from American Rescue Plan funds for child care assistance with the Nevada Child Care Fund, which will launch in July, according to Gov. Steve Sisolak.
$1.4 million to the Department of Education to fund programs to address literacy and learning loss during COVID-19.
$8.8 million to fund the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to address the backlog of unemployment insurance claims.
$20 million to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public and Behavioral Health for crisis stabilization centers. Sisolak previously announced this at the Healthcare Provider Summit in April alongside U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
$10 million to fund crisis triage, residential treatment and inpatient care services.
$539,350 to provide a “subaward” to the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas for skills training for underserved and displaced workers
$330,062 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to implement a State Meat Inspection Program.
