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Nevada Senate committee hears bill to shore up Home Feeds Nevada with $800,000 and study long-term funding
Summary
Senate Bill 233, sponsored by Senator Fabian Doñate, would appropriate $800,000 to the Home Feeds Nevada program and direct the Governor's Council on Food Security to study sustainable funding; the bill was heard in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources but received no committee vote at the hearing.
CARSON CITY — The Senate Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony on Senate Bill 233 on the Home Feeds Nevada agricultural purchasing program, which would appropriate $800,000 to the program and require the Governor’s Council on Food Security to report on sustainable funding by Dec. 1, 2026.
Senator Fabian Doñate, sponsor of SB233, told the committee the bill is intended to provide “infrastructure for long term food security” for Nevada by stabilizing a program that routes local agricultural products to food banks and other assistance partners. Doñate said the bill’s appropriation and the study requirement respond to recent federal cuts that have reduced available funding for local food purchasing.
“The lifeline of this program depends on this bill getting passed,” Doñate said during his presentation, noting that the amended version narrows the measure to the appropriation and a sustainability study.
Producers and food-bank officials told the committee the program connects small Nevada farms with local food banks and helps supply fresh produce, dairy and protein to vulnerable households. Rodney Mehring, owner of Blue Lizard Farm in Lincoln County, said Home Feeds Nevada has been essential to his operation and to the communities he serves.
“This program is not a giveaway to small farms — you are buying a service. We will grow crops and people will be fed and at the same time this money goes back into our community,” Mehring said.
Patricia Hoppe, administrator of the Division of Food and Nutrition at the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said the department operates Home Feeds Nevada and that the program currently works with roughly 18–20 in-state producers, with about 10 additional producers waiting if more funding were available. Hoppe said most participants are very small farms and that the program prioritizes fresh produce, meat protein and fluid milk.
Shane Piccinini of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada said the program allows food banks to provide far fresher products and proteins that are otherwise scarce in charitable distributions. Piccinini said the Food Bank of Northern Nevada serves approximately 160,000 people per month and that Home Feeds Nevada helped the food bank increase its reach during and after the pandemic.
Officials and advocates described a recent funding history in which the program benefited from a $4.15 million federal Local Food Purchase Assistance allocation and a $2 million state ARPA allocation; Hoppe said about $139,000 of the federal funds remain and that those funds will not last through the next growing season. Doñate and testifiers cautioned that federal program cuts make state action necessary to sustain Home Feeds Nevada.
JJ Goicoechea, director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture, testified the department is neutral on SB233 but acknowledged the program’s success and said the department currently spends “north of $2,500,000 a year” administering Home Feeds Nevada.
Committee members asked questions about fiscal notes and program reach. Doñate told the committee the bill’s fiscal notes were updated after the bill’s original sections were stricken and replaced with the current amendment; he said the appropriation would need to be considered by Ways and Means or Finance for funding approval.
Multiple nonprofit, academic and agricultural groups testified in support, including representatives from 3 Square Food Bank, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, Nevada Farm Bureau, University of Nevada, Reno programs, and the Governor’s Council on Food Security. Testimony emphasized both the program’s food-security impact and its benefit to small Nevada producers.
No committee vote on SB233 was taken at the hearing. Earlier in the meeting the committee did vote to introduce a separate BDR (BDR 35-382) creating a transit-to-trails task force; that BDR introduction passed on a voice vote. Senator Doñate closed the SB233 hearing and asked for the committee’s support going forward.
Supporters asked the committee to consider the program’s role in keeping agricultural dollars in Nevada, preventing fresh food from being lost at harvest, and maintaining distribution to rural and tribal partners across the state. Opponents did not appear in the hearing record; the Department of Agriculture stated neutrality.
The bill as amended would (1) appropriate $800,000 to the nutritious food purchasing account to support the Home Feeds Nevada Agricultural Food Purchase Program and (2) require the Governor’s Council on Food Security to study and report sustainable funding sources and request drafting of one legislative measure to ensure program stability by Dec. 1, 2026.
Looking ahead, the bill will proceed through the legislative process; the appropriation must be considered by fiscal committees. At the conclusion of the hearing, Senator Doñate thanked farmers and advocates for their testimony and urged members to support the bill.
