Nevada state agencies had not yet spent more than $700 million of the $2.7 billion in flexible pandemic relief funds the state received in 2021, with roughly one year remaining before unspent dollars must revert to the federal government, according to information presented to state lawmakers at a December meeting. Two of the largest projects still outstanding — a $203 million rural broadband expansion and a $25 million effort to relocate residents from a sinking North Las Vegas neighborhood — have each spent a fraction of their allocated funds.
State officials say all of the money will be spent before the December 31, 2026 deadline, but 20 projects accounting for $300 million of the unspent total have been flagged for spending concerns, and federal permitting delays compounded by Trump administration workforce reductions have slowed the broadband effort in particular.
The state of the spending
Nevada received $2.7 billion in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal law that allowed the state to direct hundreds of millions of dollars toward needs ranging from mental health programs to broadband infrastructure. The state set aside those funds for nearly 400 projects; about two-thirds of those initiatives have been completed, adding up to roughly $1 billion spent.
The most complete accounting of the state’s progress came at a meeting of the Interim Finance Committee — a panel of state lawmakers that makes spending decisions when the Legislature is not in session — held last month. The meeting revealed a slowdown in pandemic relief spending in fiscal year 2025 compared with the year before. There was minimal discussion among lawmakers about the overall state of play, according to the Nevada Independent.
For the first time, the state identified 20 projects with spending concerns, defined as having used less than 40 percent of their allocated dollars. The agencies overseeing those projects said the money will be spent on time, but only eight of the 20 have completion estimates before December. Those 20 projects together account for $300 million of the unspent total. The state has also identified more than $3 million in savings that can be redirected, though the funds must go to existing or open projects, not completed ones.
Broadband: the largest hurdle
The single biggest project among those flagged is Nevada’s effort to expand broadband capacity throughout rural areas of the state, for which Nevada approved $203 million. As of December, only 20 percent of those funds had been spent.
The central obstacle has been permitting. Construction cannot begin on any segment until permitting for an entire route is complete, and with the federal government owning the vast majority of land in Nevada, those reviews can take far longer than the construction work they precede. The Bureau of Land Management oversees much of that permitting and had long been understaffed; Trump administration buyout offers that reduced the federal workforce further worsened the problem.
The gap between permitting and construction timelines is stark. It took the state 18 months to receive a permit for a 2-mile broadband route in Humboldt County, while construction on that segment took just over one month.
State officials said the permitting process is nearing completion. Brian Mitchell, then-director of the Governor’s Office of Science, Innovation and Technology, told lawmakers in October that the project was “ahead of schedule,” the Nevada Current reported.
“Are we going to be able to get these projects done by Dec. 31, 2026? The answer is yes,” Mitchell said.
Windsor Park: a neighborhood waiting
A second project with spending concerns involves the relocation of residents in North Las Vegas’s Windsor Park neighborhood, which has been sinking due to ground subsidence. The state allocated $25 million in pandemic relief funds — alongside additional state dollars — to fund the effort.
Progress on spending those funds has been slow. As of early December 2025, about $616,000 — approximately 2 percent of the allocated pandemic relief dollars — had been used. By year’s end that figure had more than doubled to $1.53 million, according to Teri Williams, a spokesperson for the Department of Business and Industry. The agency said the project remains on track to be completed by year’s end.
The project’s path has not been straightforward. In 2024, officials from the Nevada Housing Division, which oversees the relocation effort, sought to stop funding it through ARPA over concerns the project could not meet spending deadlines. That plan was reversed following opposition from community members and lawmakers who feared the state would not honor its commitment to fund the project through other means.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in October that construction had begun on the new development, though no homes had yet taken shape. The project received a grading permit in September.