AN ACT relating to food; requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to establish and administer the Grocery Initiative to award grants of money and provide technical assistance and other information to certain grocery stores in this State for certain purposes; revising the duties of the Council on Food Security; making an appropriation; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Sponsored By: Julie Pazina (Democratic), Melanie Scheible (Democratic), Michelee "Shelly" Cruz-Crawford (Democratic), Nicole J. Cannizzaro (Democratic), Rochelle T. Nguyen (Democratic)
Failed
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Grocery stores get grants with spending limits
Nevada provides $10 million for the Grocery Initiative, run by the Department of Health and Human Services with the Council on Food Security, to expand healthy food access in food deserts and areas at risk. Grants can cover site studies, marketing, staff pay and benefits, rent, building down payments, store purchases, land, planning, demolition, renovations, equipment, and other approved costs. When money is available, grant recipients and other small, independent grocery stores get help with planning, marketing, financing, supply chains, and workforce development; the Department also posts growth information online. Equipment upgrades at existing stores must prioritize energy-efficient equipment and receive no more than 20% of yearly grant funds; administration is capped at 1% of the appropriation, or $100,000. Remaining funds cannot be committed after June 30, 2027, or spent after September 17, 2027, and unused money must return to the General Fund by September 17.
Grocery stores qualify under new aid rules
Existing or planned stores can qualify if they mainly sell groceries, including fresh fruits and vegetables. Eligible stores include for-profit, nonprofit, independent, cooperative, and local government-owned and operated stores. Stores must accept or plan to accept SNAP or WIC food benefits. They must offer or plan to offer many perishable foods, including fresh or frozen dairy, fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish. In counties with at least 100,000 people, tobacco and alcohol together cannot exceed 30% of actual or expected yearly gross revenue.
Nevada expands planning for better food access
The Council on Food Security must develop, coordinate, and implement a food system that supports health and economic development. Its duties include improving food-program access, federal nutrition-program participation, and food production, processing, distribution, and purchasing. It must research community gardens, urban farms, food deserts, at-risk areas, market failures, ownership gaps, and the need for independent grocers. The Council must hold public hearings and report accomplishments and recommendations annually to the Governor and Legislative Counsel Bureau. A separate report on urban and rural food deserts is due to the Legislative Counsel Bureau Director by February 1, 2027, for the 84th Legislative Session.
Nevada identifies communities needing grocery access
The law targets grocery help using food-desert rules based on the immediately preceding census: a tract must meet both a poverty test and a grocery-access test. The poverty test includes tracts where at least 20% of households live below the federal poverty level. Another qualifying test sets median family income at no more than 80% of Nevada's median household income outside metropolitan areas, or 80% of the greater of Nevada's median household income or the metropolitan area's median family income inside metropolitan areas. The access test requires at least 33% of residents or at least 500 residents to live more than 10 miles from the nearest grocery store in rural tracts, or more than 0.5 miles away in urban tracts. The Department can also designate additional food deserts by regulation using poverty and grocery-access data.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Julie Pazina
Democratic • Senate
Melanie Scheible
Democratic • Senate
Michelee "Shelly" Cruz-Crawford
Democratic • Senate
Nicole J. Cannizzaro
Democratic • Senate
Rochelle T. Nguyen
Democratic • Senate
Cosponsors
Angela D. Taylor
Democratic • Senate
Edgar Flores
Democratic • Senate
Fabian Doñate
Democratic • Senate
James Ohrenschall
Democratic • Senate
Marilyn Dondero Loop
Democratic • Senate
Skip Daly
Democratic • Senate
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
Actions Timeline
(No further action taken.)
6/3/2025SenateFrom printer. To engrossment. Engrossed. First reprint. To committee.
4/15/2025SenateTaken from General File. Re-referred to Committee on Finance. Exemption effective. To printer.
4/14/2025SenateRead second time. Amended. (Amend. No. 39.)
4/14/2025SenateNotice of eligibility for exemption.
4/14/2025SenateFrom committee: Amend, and do pass as amended.
4/10/2025SenateFrom printer. To committee.
3/6/2025SenateRead first time. Referred to Committee on Government Affairs. To printer.
3/5/2025Senate
Bill Text
As Introduced
Reprint 1
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