Nevada’s treasurer wants to address wealth disparities by creating savings accounts for every child born on Medicaid — a program called baby bonds, where money is deposited at the time of birth and grows with interest until the child is 18 years old.

Zach Conine, the Democratic treasurer who is running for re-election against Republican Michele Fiore, announced last month that he filed a bill draft request for the 2023 Legislature that would create the Nevada Baby Bond program in the treasurer’s office, which directly and indirectly manages $49 billion dollars for the state.

“The goal there is to reduce generational poverty,” Conine said in an interview. “And frankly, [to] tackle the racial wealth gap head-on.”

If the program is created, he said when eligible babies are born, the state will invest $3,200 in a bond that the treasurer’s office will manage until the child is 18 years old. The funds can then be applied to a business start-up, post-secondary education, buying a home or toward “financial assets that provide long-term gains to wages and or wealth.”

Conine said the policy should have been introduced 18 years ago and so far, he has had zero push back on the Nevada Baby Bonds program. He’s confident that, if passed, treasurers after him would do right by the bill. 

“These are relatively new around the country,” he said.

To read the full article, visit the Nevada Independent website. This story was written by Naoka Foreman for the Nevada Independent October 8, 2022 and shared with Noticiero Noticiero Móvil.