AB4 - Revises provisions relating to the Fund for a Healthy Nevada. (BDR 40-150)

A.B. 4 - *AB4* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 4–COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES) PREFILED OCTOBER 28, 2026 ____________ Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to the Fund for a Healthy Nevada. (BDR 40-150) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No. Effect on the State: No. Effect on the State Highway Fund: No. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to public health; revising certain reporting requirements relating to the Fund for a Healthy Nevada; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law creates the Fund for a Healthy Nevada and requires the State 1 Treasurer to deposit into the Fund a portion of any proceeds that the State of 2 Nevada receives from settlement agreements with and civil actions against 3 manufacturers of tobacco products. (NRS 439.620) Existing law requires the 4 Department of Human Services to allocate money in the Fund for certain purposes 5 relating to public health. Existing law also requires the Department to establish a 6 process to evaluate the health and health needs of the residents of this State and 7 submit an annual report on the results of that evaluation to the Joint Interim 8 Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. (NRS 439.630) This bill 9 instead requires the report to be submitted on or before June 30 of each even- 10 numbered year. Under existing law, the Joint Interim Standing Committees of the 11 Legislature are not authorized to meet later than August 31 of the even-numbered 12 year unless otherwise ordered by the Legislative Commission. (NRS 218E.325) 13 Existing law requires the Department to: (1) develop a plan to determine the 14 percentage of available money in the Fund to be allocated for certain purposes; and 15 (2) submit the plan as part of the proposed budget submitted on or before 16 September 1 of each even-numbered year to the Chief of the Budget Division of the 17 Office of Finance in the Office of the Governor. (NRS 353.210, 439.630) This bill 18 removes the requirement that, on or before September 30 of each even-numbered 19 year, the Department submit to the Grants Management Advisory Committee, the 20 Nevada Commission on Aging and the Nevada Commission on Services for 21 – 2 – - *AB4* Persons with Disabilities a report on the funding plan submitted to the Chief of the 22 Budget Division. 23 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. NRS 439.630 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1 439.630 1. The Department shall: 2 (a) Conduct, or require the Grants Management Advisory 3 Committee created by NRS 232.383 to conduct, public hearings to 4 accept public testimony from a wide variety of sources and 5 perspectives regarding existing or proposed programs that: 6 (1) Promote public health; 7 (2) Improve health services for children, senior citizens and 8 persons with disabilities; 9 (3) Reduce or prevent alcohol and other substance use 10 disorders; and 11 (4) Offer other general or specific information on health care 12 in this State. 13 (b) Establish a process to evaluate the health and health needs of 14 the residents of this State and a system to rank the health problems 15 of the residents of this State, including, without limitation, the 16 specific health problems that are endemic to urban and rural 17 communities, and report , on or before June 30 of each even- 18 numbered year, the results of the evaluation to the Joint Interim 19 Standing Committee on Health and Human Services . [on an annual 20 basis.] 21 (c) Subject to legislative authorization, allocate money to the 22 Department to provide grants and enter into contracts or 23 intergovernmental agreements to pay for prescription drugs, 24 pharmaceutical services and, to the extent money is available, other 25 benefits, including, without limitation, dental and vision benefits 26 and hearing aids or other devices that enhance the ability to hear, for 27 natural persons who are residents of this State and meet the criteria 28 for eligibility established by regulation of the Department. From the 29 money allocated pursuant to this paragraph, the Department may 30 subsidize any portion of the cost of providing prescription drugs, 31 pharmaceutical services and, to the extent money is available, other 32 benefits, including, without limitation, dental and vision benefits 33 and hearing aids or other devices that enhance the ability to hear, to 34 such natural persons. The Department shall consider 35 recommendations from the Grants Management Advisory 36 Committee in carrying out the provisions of this paragraph. The 37 Department shall submit an annual report to the Governor, the 38 Interim Finance Committee, the Joint Interim Standing Committee 39 – 3 – - *AB4* on Health and Human Services and any other committees or 1 commissions the Director deems appropriate regarding the general 2 manner in which expenditures have been made pursuant to this 3 paragraph. 4 (d) Subject to legislative authorization, allocate, by contract or 5 grant, money for expenditure by the Aging and Disability Services 6 Division of the Department in the form of grants for existing or new 7 programs that assist senior citizens and other specified persons with 8 independent living, including, without limitation, programs that 9 provide: 10 (1) Respite care or relief of informal caretakers, including, 11 without limitation, informal caretakers of any person with 12 Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementia regardless of the age 13 of the person; 14 (2) Transportation to new or existing services to assist senior 15 citizens in living independently; and 16 (3) Care in the home which allows senior citizens to remain 17 at home instead of in institutional care. 18  The Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department 19 shall consider recommendations from the Grants Management 20 Advisory Committee concerning the independent living needs of 21 senior citizens. 22 (e) Allocate $200,000 of all revenues deposited in the Fund for a 23 Healthy Nevada each year for direct expenditure by the Director to 24 award competitive grants to finance the establishment, expansion 25 and operation of assisted living facilities that provide services 26 pursuant to the provisions of the home and community-based 27 services waiver which are amended pursuant to NRS 422.3962. The 28 Director shall develop policies and procedures for awarding grants 29 pursuant to this paragraph that prioritize assisted living facilities that 30 demonstrate the ability to meet the criteria for certification pursuant 31 to NRS 319.147. If any money allocated pursuant to this paragraph 32 remains after awarding grants to all eligible applicants, the Director 33 must reallocate such money to the Aging and Disability Services 34 Division of the Department to be used for the purposes described in 35 paragraph (d). 36 (f) Subject to legislative authorization, allocate to the Division 37 money for programs that are consistent with the guidelines 38 established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the 39 United States Department of Health and Human Services relating to 40 evidence-based best practices to prevent, reduce or treat the use of 41 tobacco and the consequences of the use of tobacco. In making 42 allocations pursuant to this paragraph, the Division shall allocate the 43 money, by contract or grant: 44 – 4 – - *AB4* (1) To the district board of health in each county whose 1 population is 100,000 or more for expenditure for such programs in 2 the respective county; 3 (2) For such programs in counties whose population is less 4 than 100,000; and 5 (3) For statewide programs for tobacco cessation and other 6 statewide services for tobacco cessation and for statewide 7 evaluations of programs which receive an allocation of money 8 pursuant to this paragraph, as determined necessary by the Division 9 and the district boards of health. 10 (g) Subject to legislative authorization, allocate, by contract or 11 grant, money for expenditure for programs that improve the health 12 and well-being of residents of this State, including, without 13 limitation, programs that improve health services for children. 14 (h) Subject to legislative authorization, allocate, by contract or 15 grant, money for expenditure for programs that improve the health 16 and well-being of persons with disabilities. In making allocations 17 pursuant to this paragraph, the Department shall, to the extent 18 practicable, allocate the money evenly among the following three 19 types of programs: 20 (1) Programs that provide respite care or relief of informal 21 caretakers for persons with disabilities; 22 (2) Programs that provide positive behavioral supports to 23 persons with disabilities; and 24 (3) Programs that assist persons with disabilities to live 25 safely and independently in their communities outside of an 26 institutional setting. 27 (i) Maximize expenditures through local, federal and private 28 matching contributions. 29 (j) Ensure that any money expended from the Fund will not be 30 used to supplant existing methods of funding that are available to 31 public agencies. 32 (k) Develop policies and procedures for the administration and 33 distribution of contracts, grants and other expenditures to state 34 agencies, political subdivisions of this State, nonprofit 35 organizations, universities, state colleges and community colleges. 36 A condition of any such contract or grant must be that not more than 37 8 percent of the contract or grant may be used for administrative 38 expenses or other indirect costs. The procedures must require at 39 least one competitive round of requests for proposals per biennium. 40 (l) To make the allocations required by paragraphs (f), (g) and 41 (h): 42 (1) Prioritize and quantify the needs for these programs; 43 (2) Develop, solicit and accept applications for allocations; 44 – 5 – - *AB4* (3) Review and consider the recommendations of the Grants 1 Management Advisory Committee submitted pursuant to 2 NRS 232.385; 3 (4) Conduct annual evaluations of programs to which 4 allocations have been awarded; and 5 (5) Submit annual reports concerning the programs to the 6 Governor, the Interim Finance Committee, the Joint Interim 7 Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and any other 8 committees or commissions the Director deems appropriate. 9 (m) Transmit a report of all findings, recommendations and 10 expenditures to the Governor, each regular session of the 11 Legislature, the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Health and 12 Human Services and any other committees or commissions the 13 Director deems appropriate. 14 (n) After considering the recommendations submitted to the 15 Director pursuant to subsection 6, develop a plan each biennium to 16 determine the percentage of available money in the Fund for a 17 Healthy Nevada to be allocated from the Fund for the purposes 18 described in paragraphs (c), (d), (f), (g) and (h). The plan must be 19 submitted as part of the proposed budget submitted to the Chief of 20 the Budget Division of the Office of Finance pursuant to 21 NRS 353.210. 22 [(o) On or before September 30 of each even-numbered year, 23 submit to the Grants Management Advisory Committee, the Nevada 24 Commission on Aging created by NRS 427A.032 and the Nevada 25 Commission on Services for Persons with Disabilities created by 26 NRS 427A.1211 a report on the funding plan submitted to the Chief 27 of the Budget Division of the Office of Finance pursuant to 28 paragraph (n).] 29 2. The Department may take such other actions as are 30 necessary to carry out its duties. 31 3. To make the allocations required by paragraph (d) of 32 subsection 1, the Aging and Disability Services Division of the 33 Department shall: 34 (a) Prioritize and quantify the needs of senior citizens and other 35 specified persons for these programs; 36 (b) Develop, solicit and accept grant applications for allocations; 37 (c) As appropriate, expand or augment existing state programs 38 for senior citizens and other specified persons upon approval of the 39 Interim Finance Committee; 40 (d) Award grants, contracts or other allocations; 41 (e) Conduct annual evaluations of programs to which grants or 42 other allocations have been awarded; and 43 (f) Submit annual reports concerning the allocations made by 44 the Aging and Disability Services Division pursuant to 45 – 6 – - *AB4* paragraph (d) of subsection 1 to the Governor, the Interim Finance 1 Committee, the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Health and 2 Human Services and any other committees or commissions the 3 Director deems appropriate. 4 4. The Aging and Disability Services Division of the 5 Department shall submit each proposed grant or contract which 6 would be used to expand or augment an existing state program to 7 the Interim Finance Committee for approval before the grant or 8 contract is awarded. The request for approval must include a 9 description of the proposed use of the money and the person or 10 entity that would be authorized to expend the money. The Aging 11 and Disability Services Division of the Department shall not expend 12 or transfer any money allocated to the Aging and Disability Services 13 Division pursuant to this section to subsidize any portion of the cost 14 of providing prescription drugs, pharmaceutical services and other 15 benefits, including, without limitation, dental and vision benefits 16 and hearing aids or other devices that enhance the ability to hear 17 pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection 1. 18 5. A veteran may receive benefits or other services which are 19 available from the money allocated pursuant to this section for 20 senior citizens or persons with disabilities to the extent that the 21 veteran does not receive other benefits or services provided to 22 veterans for the same purpose if the veteran qualifies for the benefits 23 or services as a senior citizen or a person with a disability, or both. 24 6. On or before June 30 of each even-num [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]