In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law, a massive funding package that delivered more than $2.7 billion in flexible state aid to Nevada.

At the time, Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, pledged to use the funds to stabilize the state’s economy, continue reopening schools and “maximize these funds for long term benefits.”

Now, nearly four years later, we know how all of the money has been used.

After dozens of meetings, multiple legislative sessions and years of politicking about how to use the money, Nevada’s $2.7 billion has been fully obligated. Federal guidelines required the money to be allocated by the end of 2024, and it must be spent by the end of 2026.

The state prioritized spending on housing, health care, education and building back up state operations post-pandemic, according to a Nevada Independent analysis of the more than 400 allocations of ARP money. The analysis was based on a manual categorization of the spending decisions, loosely based on categories established by Nevada Recovers, a now-defunct website that tracked ARP spending through mid-2023.

Notably, the bulk of spending decisions were made by the governor’s office and the 22 legislators who make up the state’s Interim Finance Committee (IFC), a group of lawmakers that makes spending decisions when the Legislature is not in session.

About one-fourth of the allocations were made via bills approved during the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions, headlined by the $332 million to repay federal loans that helped sustain pandemic-era unemployment benefits and $200 million in grants to address learning loss from the pandemic.

But almost all of the other spending was approved by the IFC, which was authorized to approve the funding requests through a 2021 legal opinion. State agencies make the funding requests alongside the governor’s office, and they must receive the support from a majority of committee members. Democrats have held a majority on the committee for the entirety of the ARP allocation period.

Much of the money was allocated before Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo entered office, with 96 percent of the funds having been assigned at the time of his 2022 gubernatorial victory.  However, more than $220 million in allocated funds, or 8 percent of $2.7 billion, were de-obligated after Lombardo took office for reasons including canceled projects and realized savings, allowing that money to be redistributed to other projects during the past two years.

Now, state agencies will embark on a mad dash to spend all of the funds in the next two years, or risk losing out on any unspent money, which could result in stalled or canceled projects. Through November, the state had spent about $1.6 billion of the ARP funds.

See below for a closer look at where the money went.

Where did the money go?

Three categories made up more than half of the $2.7 billion in allocations: housing, state administration and health care.

The state poured more than $572 million into housing initiatives, largely through the $500 million distribution into an affordable housing initiative. It also included $25 million to relocate residents of the dilapidated Windsor Park neighborhood in North Las Vegas, a decision that state officials attempted to rescind because of concerns that the money would not be fully spent ahead of federal deadlines.

The state administration category, which encompasses initiatives that mostly dealt with building back up the state government’s operations post-pandemic, received more than $468 million. The most significant allocation in this category was the $332 million to repay federal loans for unemployment benefits.

And $350 million went to health care (not including initiatives related to mental health and COVID-19 treatments). This included $116 million to expand the infrastructure of Nevada’s public health system and tens of millions to bolster the state’s health care workforce.

Thirteen other categories made up the rest of the funding. Among this $1.3 billion in allocations was $203 million for broadband infrastructure statewide and $100 million for water projects.

About $130 million also went to programs for children and families, including $50 million for child care subsidies and $30 million to expand the capacity of child care providers.

The state also assigned $119 million to combat food insecurity, mostly through the $75 million distribution for universal free school meals — a contentious issue given that Lombardo vetoed a bill in 2023 to extend it. It will likely be at the forefront of next year’s legislative session. 

About 12.5 percent of Nevada households experienced food insecurity — defined as limited or uncertain access to sufficient food — from 2021 to 2023, slightly more than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The agencies that received the most money were responsible for overseeing the highest-dollar projects. The Department of Business and Industry, for example, led the way because it oversaw all of the housing projects, while the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation was second in the amount of money received because it was responsible for allocations related to unemployment benefits.

Did Lombardo live up to his mental health promise?

In early March, Lombardo told Nevada Independent CEO Jon Ralston that mental health was his “first priority” for allocating unused ARP money, which was $43 million at the time.

Since then, more than $27 million in ARP funds went toward mental health initiatives, the highest among any category and more than a quarter of total spending since Lombardo’s pledge. More than half of this money went to Washoe County to renovate the West Hills Behavioral Health Facility, which shuttered in 2021 but is set to reopen under county control in 2026.

However, the state also rescinded funding for mental health projects since Lombardo’s remarks, including $4.8 million that was expected to help bring crisis stabilization centers to rural counties, but those failed to get off the ground.

Projects categorized as “Children’s and Family Programs” received the next-highest share of money since Lombardo’s comments, raking in more than $25 million. Those initiatives may also have a mental health component, such as the nearly $16 million for the Nevada Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.

Mental health projects also made up the highest share of ARP allocations since Lombardo took office in January 2023, with $67 million in new allocations, but that does not include the roughly $55 million in rescinded funds designated for a since-abandoned project to increase beds for incarcerated people with mental health needs.