Nevada could lose big chunk of pandemic funds before deadline

Agencies have one year to use all the money. Twenty projects have “spending concerns,” but the state has not publicly expressed worries about the deadline.

Nevada agencies have yet to spend about a quarter of the $2.7 billion it received in flexible pandemic relief dollars, and with about one year to go before all of the money must be used, projects to expand rural broadband and relocate residents of a sinking neighborhood are far from getting all their funding out the door.

The state received a windfall in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a federal law that allowed it to allocate hundreds of millions of dollars toward everything from mental health programs to broadband infrastructure.

As of last month, the state has not spent more than $700 million of those dollars, according to information presented at a Nevada legislative meeting, but officials have expressed optimism that all of the money would be spent on time.

If money is not spent by the end of 2026, it will revert back to the federal government. The dollars can be used elsewhere — and the state has identified more than $3 million in savings — but must go to existing or open projects, not completed ones.

Read the rest of this article, which was shared with Noticiero Móvil, over at The Nevada Independent. This story was reported by Eric Neugeboren and originally published on January 16, 2026.