Nevada lawmakers meet Wednesday to accept federal pandemic cash

The legislative Interim Finance Committee meets Wednesday to accept funding from the federal government to support state efforts to fight the coronavirus.

The largest single item is the $836.1 million in federal CARES Act funds to support emergency costs. The Sisolak administration has already accepted that funding under the state statute defining the emergency powers of his office.

IFC members will adopt a half dozen different grants dealing with the pandemic.

The largest of those is $32.9 million in aid to support childcare providers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Another $7.38 million grant will help local and tribal governments respond to the pandemic.

Some $1.9 million in coronavirus cash will address mental and substance abuse disorders during the pandemic.

The Public Employees Benefits Program has two items on the agenda that aren’t federally funded. The first transfers $6.67 million in prescription drug rebate money to non-state employee insurance. PEBP is also asking lawmakers to transfer $18.2 million from Catastrophic Reserves to the retiree insurance costs category.

There is no physical location for the meeting. The public can watch from the link on the legislative website’s meetings page.