SNAP alternative could be proposed in a bill, NV Senate Dems say
By FOX5 Staff and Jaclyn Schultz, Fox5, November 4, 2025
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo will call for lawmakers to address the gap in SNAP benefits for half-a-million Nevadans during a special session this month, according to a spokesperson for his office.
FOX5 got confirmation of the item on a special session agenda, Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, Nevada Senate Democrats announced proposed legislation to address the issue.
The move by lawmakers comes amid an ongoing federal government shutdown that has resulted in a halt in SNAP benefits for 495,000 Nevadans. The federal closure is now the longest in history.
If a special session of the Nevada Legislature is called, Nevada Democrats plan to introduce legislation that would fund a state alternative to SNAP dubbed the “Nevada Emergency Nutrition Assistance Program,” a news release said.
Treasurer Zach Conine gave insight to FOX5 about how a proposed bill could work.
“That would require us to create a SNAP-like program at the state level. That’s going to take some programming time. That’s going to take legislative work. There’s a number of different pieces to do that,” he tells FOX5.
The governor has been briefed on the announcement and dialogue with Senate Democrats is ongoing, the governor’s spokesperson tells FOX5.
The announcement comes as the governor and Democratic lawmakers continue to disagree on a critical issue at hand: what can legally be done to help Nevadans, now?
By last Thursday, the Governor’s Office announced that more than $38 million in federal ARPA funding and state contingency funds had been allocated to Food Bank of Northern Nevada and Three Square Food Bank in the Las Vegas Valley.
“We’re doing everything we can as the state legally to get through the monetary benefit that we can provide to the food banks,” Lombardo said Monday during an event at Three Square. “We are in constant communication with the White House and the administration, trying to get answers on a continual basis… what is legal and what is not legal, what makes it eligible for reimbursement in the long term from state funds provided, and what would be the easiest way to provide funding,” Lombardo said.
A memo released by Lombardo’s office last week offered the following insights into legal concerns:
“While the State could seek access to reverted General Fund dollars, unspent American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, or Rainy Day Funds through legislative authorization to temporarily fund emergency benefits, current federal regulations prohibit states from funding the SNAP program directly.
Accordingly, per the regulations outlined by the USDA, even if Governor Lombardo called a special convening of the Legislature and the Legislature opted to appropriate temporary SNAP funding, the State would not be able to directly fund the program.”
The Governor shared skepticism, Monday, about accessing Rainy Day Funds.
“If it’s decided through the legislative process that we dip into the in-fund balance and eventually if it reaches the threshold of where the Rainy Day account would be leveraged– that’s the questions we’ll continually manage and monitor and get answers to. Now it’s under a ‘5% in-fund balance’ which leverages the Rainy Day fund, and we are not currently in that position,” he said.
Treasurer Zach Conine, an attorney, tells FOX5 that he disagrees with Lombardo and his office’s legal assessments. Conine argues that the governor and Legislature could declare a “fiscal emergency” to tap into the Rainy Day Fund, per state law.
“We have $1.29 billion in the Rainy Day Fund. We can use that money to fund benefits for Nevadans. Can we put money directly into the SNAP program? It doesn’t look like we can, and that’s because the Trump administration has told us that we are not able to do that,” Conine said.
“The first thing we called for was the sending of emergency aid to Nevadans, not necessarily through the SNAP program, but using the same cards and the same vendors to put money into the pockets of individuals who are hungry right now,” Conine said. “I can’t think of a more pressing fiscal emergency than nearly half-a-million Nevadans not being able to have food in their stomachs,” he said.
Various programs such as TANF and other emergency housing assistance programs maintain the files of people who are currently enrolled in SNAP.
A Governor’s Office spokesperson tells FOX5, there are “regulatory considerations” with the treasurer’s proposal. The governor is also consulting with the Attorney General’s office to understand legal options for sharing SNAP data, a spokesperson said.
“The Governor’s Office remains committed to find solutions to funding SNAP beneficiaries to the extent that it is allowable under federal and state law,” the spokesperson tells FOX5 Tuesday.