CARSON CITY — The Nevada Senate Finance Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 458 on a voice vote, approving a supplemental appropriation to reimburse the Office of the Secretary of State for about $773,000 in costs tied to credit‑card transaction fees and related information‑technology work.

Chief Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel DeCarra told the panel the supplemental request grew out of the office’s decision to stop covering customer credit‑card convenience fees and instead have customers pay those fees. DeCarra said the office attempted to move unspent funds through an interim finance work program and discussed the transfers with the Legislative Counsel Bureau and the Governor’s Finance Office, but was later told there was no statutory authority to reassign those funds.

"If we had known that we did not have authority to spend any of these funds, we would not have done so," DeCarra said. He added that some of the expenditures were for IT services and a contractor; he specifically cited $51,000 for software called Validate that helps the securities division analyze bank transactions during investigations.

The request prompted questions from several senators about why the agency spent beyond certain budget account limits. Senator Patricia Titus said the secretary’s office "was acting in an unprecedented manner" and that agencies must be held accountable for overspending; she announced she would vote no. Titus identified overspending in particular accounts even though the agency later reverted other appropriated funds to the state.

Wayne Thurlow of the Legislative Counsel Bureau’s fiscal division said the situation was unusual because the Secretary of State’s Office had been appropriated general‑fund dollars to cover fees while also moving to charge customers those fees. "There's no windfall," Thurlow said; he explained most agencies that charge convenience fees are not appropriated money for those costs, so they do not retain a separate appropriation to reassign.

DeCarra and LCB staff also told the committee that the office reverted several million dollars from unspent credit‑card fee appropriations at the end of fiscal year 2024 and at an April Interim Finance Committee meeting, and that most remaining funds are statutorily tied to reimbursing counties for election‑related costs.

During the committee’s work session, Senator Winn moved to pass the bill and Senator Cannizzaro seconded. The motion passed on a voice vote with recorded nays from Senators Titus, Stone and Buck; the committee indicated the floor statement would go to Senator Winn.

The committee hearing included no public supporters, opponents or neutral callers on the public line. The hearing record closed and the committee moved into its work session after the vote.