Nevada subcommittee approves DHHS welfare budget recommendations including summer EBT, kinship expansion and staffing changes

The Nevada Legislature's Subcommittee on Human Services on March (date in record) approved a series of closing recommendations for the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, covering SNAP accuracy tools, Medicaid income verification, the ongoing Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) program, multiple new staff positions, and the planned expansion of kinship care and family support services funded by opioid settlement transfers.

The action session, led by Chair Mosca, followed staff presentations from Colby Nichols of the Legislative Counsel Bureau's Fiscal Analysis Division. Nichols summarized the governor's recommended decision units, described several budget amendments that corrected account allocations, and presented staff-recommended adjustments. "This is for contract costs associated with the state's participation in a national accuracy clearing house for the supplemental nutrition assistance program," Nichols said when introducing the National Accuracy Clearing House decision unit (M503). Lisa Swearingen, deputy administrator for the division, described the department's in-house transition of child-care payments: "We currently have transitioned since January 8 16 providers... We are moving fast and furious. Payments that we've been making in house total about $6,500,000 since we took this over." Jonathan Norman of the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers provided public comment in support of kinship-care enhancements.

Why it matters: the approved items set recurring and one-time funding and staffing levels that affect SNAP administration, Medicaid eligibility verification, child-care subsidies and the scope of services for families affected by substance use. Several items also updated funding alignment after technical errors were identified in the governor's recommended budget.

Key approved items and details

- SNAP National Accuracy Clearing House (Decision Unit M503): The subcommittee approved the governor's recommendation as amended by a budget amendment to realign grant and general fund authority. Staff presented the amendment as increasing federal SNAP administrative grant authority and changing general fund appropriations; the amendment was described in the packet as aligning costs to SNAP only. The subcommittee approved the staff recommendation to accept M503 as amended.

- Medicaid income verification (Decision Unit M506): The subcommittee approved the governor's recommendation to fund contract costs associated with the state's participation in a federal income verification data hub for Medicaid eligibility. Staff noted the agency testified these are ongoing costs and do not include one-time expenditures.

- Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT): The committee approved placing ongoing administrative and benefit costs into the budget, matching the governor's recommendation of $47,500,000 each year of the 2025-27 biennium, with administrative costs split 50/50 between federal SNAP grants and state general fund and benefits funded fully by federal SNAP grant authority. Staff said the agency estimated the case load at about 350,000 children and testified that figure represented all eligible children.

- Human resources positions: The governor recommended seven new HR positions for the division. The subcommittee instead approved a reduced staffing package: two new personnel analyst positions, one new personnel technician position and one new accounting assistant position, as moved by Senator Winn and seconded by Assemblymember Monroe Moreno.

- Management analyst positions (IT oversight and Investigations & Recovery): For E225 (IT oversight analyst), the subcommittee did not approve the governor's recommendation. For E227 (management analyst for investigations and recovery), the subcommittee approved the governor's recommendation to add the position and associated operating costs.

- TANF: opioid settlement transfers and kinship care expansion: The subcommittee approved two companion transfers of opioid settlement funds from the Fund for Resilient Nevada. One transfer ($5,000,000 each year of the biennium) will fund competitive subawards to local child welfare agencies and nonprofits to provide emergency and support services to children and families affected by opioid or other substance use disorders (staff and agency testimony clarified the funds are not intended for direct cash assistance). The second companion transfer ($5,000,000 each year) expands the kinship care grant program to include non-parent relatives and guardians aged 18 and older who care for children removed from their parents due to substance use; the expansion may fund direct cash assistance and support services such as childcare and transportation. During the vote on the family support services transfer, the record shows at least two no votes (Assemblymember Dickman and Senator Titus); the motion nevertheless passed.

- Welfare field services positions and caseload updates: The governor proposed 36 new field positions to address caseload changes; the March caseload update reduced that need to 29. The subcommittee approved a further constrained staffing plan, authorizing 21 family services specialist 2 positions while denying the remaining positions listed in the M201 decision unit.

- Investigations and recovery investigators: The governor recommended seven new positions (six compliance investigators and one supervisory investigator). The subcommittee approved funding for four positions (three compliance investigators and one supervisory compliance investigator) rather than the full seven.

- Child-care program transition and Childcare Management Information System (CMIS) staff: Agency staff described the in-house transition from the Urban League, reporting roughly 12,434 active certificates and approximately 10,884 children currently served, and noted roughly $6.5 million in in-house payments since takeover. The subcommittee approved three federally funded positions (two program officers and one administrative assistant) to support a new childcare management information system, with a technical correction to an assigned grade that reduced the estimated cost slightly.

- Energy assistance program amendment: Fiscal staff recommended and the subcommittee approved a budget amendment to correct classification and caseload decision-unit construction errors; the amendment increases expenditure authority in FY26 and FY27 to align with updated energy-assistance caseload projections and funding sources (universal energy charge revenues and federal grant funds).

Votes at a glance

- M503 (National Accuracy Clearing House for SNAP) ' Motion to approve governor recommendation as amended by budget amendment A254013228 ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- M506 (Medicaid income verification) ' Motion to approve governor recommendation ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- Summer EBT (ongoing administrative and benefit funding, $47.5M/year) ' Motion to approve governor recommendation ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- HR positions (governor recommended 7; subcommittee approved a reduced package: 2 analysts, 1 technician, 1 accounting assistant) ' Motion to adopt reduced package ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- E225 (management analyst for IT oversight) ' Motion to not approve E225 ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: not approved.

- E227 (management analyst for investigations and recovery) ' Motion to approve E227 ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- TANF opioid settlement transfer ' Family support services ($5,000,000/year) ' Motion to approve transfer ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved (recorded nays: Assemblymember Dickman, Senator Titus).

- TANF opioid settlement transfer ' Kinship care expansion ($5,000,000/year) ' Motion to approve expansion ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- Welfare field services (M201) ' Motion to approve 21 family services specialist 2 positions and not approve the remainder of M201 ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- Investigations & Recovery (seven recommended; subcommittee approved four) ' Motion to approve 4 positions (3 investigators, 1 supervisory investigator) ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- Childcare CMIS positions (2 program officers, 1 administrative assistant; grade correction) ' Motion to approve with technical grade correction ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

- Energy assistance budget amendment (A2552944862) ' Motion to approve amendment and related closings ' Mover: Senator Winn; Second: Assemblymember Monroe Moreno ' Outcome: approved.

Process and next steps

Most votes were unanimous or passed by voice vote. Several items were approved with staff-proposed technical adjustments or reduced staffing relative to the governor's recommendation. Fiscal staff also requested authority to make additional technical adjustments to align accounts and correct clerical errors. The packet referenced a number of budget amendment and decision-unit numbers for auditors and staff review; the subcommittee closed the division's accounts subject to those technical adjustments and companion approvals in related budget accounts.

Public comment and closing

Jonathan Norman of the Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers thanked the subcommittee and agency staff for the kinship-care enhancements and said they would help divert children from foster care. Chair Mosca closed the meeting with remarks thanking agency staff for their work and adjourned the hearing.

Ending note: Several approved items are contingent on companion decisions and budget amendments noted in the staff packet; the committee granted fiscal staff authority to make technical adjustments where the packet identified clerical or allocation errors. The packet contains the detailed decision boxes and budget amendment identifiers for auditing and implementation.