If state or federal assistance is disrupted, suspended, or reduced due to so-called extraordinary circumstances, the state can temporarily provide cash to Nevadans. The legislation was passed during a special session of the state’s legislature. In order to fund it, the governor and legislature must approve.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, who presented the bill, said money on hand is the best way to help people directly.
“Not everybody can always get to a food bank. People have jobs, or if you have kids or someone at home who can’t be left alone. Think about going to stand in an eight-hour line for food. That is something that is untenable for folks if you don’t have transportation. Those are the kinds of things that make that cash assistance program just more efficient,” Cannizzaro said.
During the government shutdown this fall, the legislature approved nearly $40 million for food banks across the state. During the special legislative session, lawmakers advanced an appropriations bill that, in part, reimburses the state. Benefits have been fully restored since Congress voted to reopen the government. The Trump administration refused to use available USDA contingency funds for SNAP.
Nearly half a million Nevadans rely on SNAP, making the state among the top 10 with the highest percentage of its population receiving the federal food benefits. The bill to create the Silver State General Assistance Program will head to the Republican governor’s desk in the coming days – the first Senate bill to do so from the special session.
“We have to be prepared in the event that there may be another government shutdown,” Cannizzaro said. “Because at this point now, we have seen that the administration is willing and ready to strip benefits from people who desperately need it in order to play political games.”
