Half a million Nevadans slated to go hungry Nov. 1; help in Carson City plus: what lawmakers are doing 

Residents pick up food at the Ron Wood Family Resource Center food bank in Carson City, Nev., on Friday, May 3, 2019.
Photo by Cathleen Allison/Nevada Momentum
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Residents pick up food at the Ron Wood Family Resource Center food bank in Carson City. Photo:Cathleen Allison, Nevada Momentum

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This is a developing story; we’ll continue to update as new information becomes available.

Over 505,000 Nevadans rely on SNAP benefits — the supplemental assistance program formerly was known as “food stamps.” 

That’s one in six people, with a quarter of all Nevada households with children receiving benefits. 

With so many families relying on the federal program, families — and lawmakers — are scrambling for how to make sure they aren’t going hungry when the November 1 SNAP payment doesn’t come through due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.

The shutdown is balancing on one point: healthcare subsidies. They are set to expire at the end of the year, which would increase 22-24 million American’s monthly payments for their ACA marketplace insurance, and cause an estimated 4 million to lose coverage entirely. Democrats in D.C. say they will not pass Republican’s reopening bill until they agree to include an extension for the subsidies. Republicans say the ACA subsidy is a “bad, broken system,” but still have no formal plans to replace it.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson instead said, “We believe in the private sector and the free market and individual providers,” according to the Hill.

Who is using SNAP? 

Despite Nevada’s SNAP qualifications and regulations being stricter than other states, the percentage of Nevadans who rely on the program (15.5%) is higher than the national average (12.3%). 

It’s split fairly evenly between rural and city: one in 8 households in both rural and metro-areas in Nevada receive SNAP, while one in 10 “small-town” households are beneficiaries. 

In 2024, we ranked eighth in the country on the share of the population receiving benefits. The highest in the country is New Mexico at 21%, Washington D.C. at 19.6%, and Louisiana at 18.4%. Lowest populations are Utah at 4.8% and New Hampshire at 5.5%. 

Families with children make up the largest demographic of SNAP users in Nevada, with 24% of families receiving benefits, and 40.3% of all single female-parent families relying on the program. In comparison, only 8.9% of households without children participate, dropping eve lower for married couples without children receiving benefits at 4.5%.  

Nationwide, participants receive an average of $187.20 per month in assistance, or $343 per household. 

Demographically, the breakdown of SNAP users from largest percentage is: 37% non-hispanic White, 26% African American, 16% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 1-2% Native American, and 17% ”unknown.” 

Statistics show that 28% of all of SNAP users are employed, rising to 55% if there are children in the home. For households that include a non-disabled working adult, 86% of households reported earnings  that calendar year.

This is reflected in Nevada as well, with 83% of SNAP households reporting an adult within the home worked at some point. 

Walmart, McDonald’s and Amazon are the top three companies, and consistently have been for years (or in Walmart’s case, decades), for the number of workers who receive government assistance whether SNAP or Medicaid nationwide. 

In Nevada, over 18,000 employees and dependents receive Medicaid (Nevada does not report SNAP specifics when it comes to companies), followed by Walmart with 9,300, then the Clark County School district with 7,500. Just those three employers cost taxpayers over $100.9 million in paying for their employees’ health insurance. 

 What are lawmakers doing? 

In Nevada, lawmakers have been scrambling to try and provide constituents some relief. 

Previously, the USDA said it would follow its own outlined contingency plan to utilize its $6 billion emergency funds to fund SNAP benefits, but then renegged on that decision, and removed the information on its contingency plan from its website.

Now, states are trying to figure out how to make sure people will be able to eat come Saturday.

Last week, Gov. Lombardo’s office said that the federal government made it clear to states that they were not allowed to fund the SNAP program themselves, since it is a federal program in response to a proposition from congressional democrats. Instead, he “implored” bi-partisan action in D.C. to reopen the government.

The stalemate is between Senate republican and democrats. Republicans control the house and the congress, but the senate still has to come to some sort of bipartisan agreement. During the last time a shutdown was imminent, Democratic Senate Chair Chuck Schumer convinced democrats to agree to pass the republican-led funding bill in the name of bi-partisanship, but this time, democrats are digging in their heels.

Their stance is firm: they will not agree to the republican’s spending package until republicans agree to include an extension of American Care Act (ACA) health care subsidies. Currently 25 million Americans are enrolled in ACA health insurance, the highest number of all time. Of those, 88% rely on the federal subsidies which keep costs to consumers down.

However, those subsidies are set to expire, and if they do, roughly 4 million Americans could lose coverage entirely, while others would see their premiums (monthly payments) triple or even quadruple.

The stalemate continues as of October 30, 2025, meaning states are having to figure out how to feed their constituents.

Despite being told they can’t fund SNAP, that doesn’t mean that the silver state’s government is throwing in the towel.

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) said he is “ready to declare a fiscal emergency” to tap into Nevada’s rainy day fund to help pay for food assistance, and said he doesn’t “intend to take no for a f****ing answer” according to the Nevada Independent. 

According to the Nevada Current, lawmakers are proposing a “Food Insecurity Nevada Plan” which would take $30.2 million from a contingency fund usually used to cover unexpected expenses like lawsuit settlements or overtime salaries. 

While food banks and other local social welfare programs are doing what they can to prepare, the Current says there is simply no possible way they could fill in all the gaps left by SNAP — especially after some have already had federal funding cut this year.

Best efforts notwithstanding, food banks will not be able to fill the void left by discontinued SNAP funding of EBT cards.

A spokesperson for Food Bank of Northern Nevada told the Current the food bank is “working on aggressive food sourcing through donations and purchased food” but acknowledged that, even with additional state money, it will be an impossible task to immediately help each of the 77,008 people in Northern Nevada set to lose their SNAP benefits on Saturday.

“For every meal that we provide, SNAP provides nine, making it impossible for us to scale up our operations to that level,” said spokesperson Jocelyn Lantrip in an email. “We do want our communities to know that we are here to help them and we will do everything that we can to offer that support.”

Still, while Nevada lawmakers — and, hopefully, federal lawmakers — work to come to a solution, the social services in Carson City are ready to help.

Help in Carson City?

There are a number of non profits in the capital city that provide assistance not only for food insecurity, but rental assistance, transportation assistance and more.

FISH — Friends In Service Helping (main food bank)

• Address: 138 E. Long St., Carson City, NV 89706
• Hours: Mon–Fri, 9:00–12:00 & 1:00–5:00; prepared daily meal 3:00–5:00.
• Phone: (775) 882-3474
• Walk-up pantry and TEFAP commodities; check site for intake details. 

Salvation Army — Carson City Corps (pantry & fresh box)

• Address: 911 E. Second St., Carson City, NV 89701
• Pantry office hours: Mon 9:00–1:00; Tue/Thu 10:00–12:00 & 1:00–2:30; Fresh food box: Wed 12:30–2:00. 

Carson City Seventh-day Adventist Church — Food Pantry

• Address: 405 College Pkwy, Carson City, NV 89706
• Hours: Sun 10:00–2:00 (quieter 11:30–1:00 for seniors/disabled), Wed 4:00–6:30.

Ron Wood Family Resource Center (food bank & referrals)

• Address: 2621 Northgate Ln., Ste. 62, Carson City, NV 89706
• Hours: Mon–Fri 8:00–5:00 (Thu closed 1:00–2:30).
• Provides a community food bank and connects to other basics. Call to confirm current distribution times.

Carson City Senior Center (seniors)

• On-site lunch: Mon–Fri 11:00–12:30 (60+ suggested donation; others pay a fee).
• Meals on Wheels (home-delivered): Mon–Fri deliveries; frozen meals for weekends/holidays.
• Mobile Harvest produce (open to all ages): 1st Tue monthly, 9:00–11:00 (east parking lot).
• FBNN commodities at Senior Center: 4th Tue monthly, 10:00–11:00.

Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN) — Locator & partner pantries

• Use the map to find all Carson City distributions (Mobile Harvest, commodities, partner pantries). 

Public benefits (apply/maintain)

• SNAP (food stamps): Nevada DWSS Carson City District Office, 2533 N. Carson St., Ste. 200. Hours: Mon–Fri 7:00–5:00. Apply/renew online or in person. Note: During the current federal shutdown, November benefits are delayed, but applications are still accepted; previously issued benefits remain usable.
• WIC (Women, Infants & Children): Carson City clinic at 680 W. Nye Ln., Ste. 205; state program info and eligibility at Nevada WIC. Heads-up: Some tribal WIC benefits in NV were suspended during the shutdown; check status before you go.

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