Printed in the High Desert Advocate Edition August 20, 2021.
Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui arrives on the first day of the 81st session of the Nevada Legislature in Carson City on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (photo credit David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
Nevada lawmakers are scheduled to approve hundreds of millions of state spending on Wednesday morning, most of which is underwritten by federal coronavirus relief funds passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year.
The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee will discuss transferring funds to local governments, approving spending on early childhood education and allocating cannabis tax revenue to K-12 schools. Nevada received $2.9 billion directly from the American Rescue Plan passed in March as well as portions of other funding earmarked toward specific aid programs.
A subcommittee that meets when the part-time Legislature is not in session is responsible for approving much of the spending.
The state budget took a nosedive at the beginning of 2020, as the pandemic kept many of the millions of tourists and convention-goers who visit Las Vegas home. Lawmakers subsequently made cuts to health care and education, but were able to reverse many of them in the 2021 legislative session due to quicker-than-expected economic recovery and an influx of federal relief dollars.
