The Division of Welfare and Supportive Services told the joint subcommittee that it will implement a federally mandated National Accuracy Clearinghouse to detect duplicate SNAP issuance and a separate on‑demand income‑verification system required for Medicaid eligibility, and that an IRS change now requires five‑year fingerprinting for certain staff and contractors.

The clearinghouse project, presented as decision unit M503, must be implemented earlier for Nevada than some other states: federal rollout groups place Nevada’s kickoff in September with a go‑live of May 2026, officials said. Kelly Cantrell, deputy administrator, said, “So the federal government, is rolling this out in groups, and so they put each state into a different group. And Nevada was selected to actually go in group 12…with the anticipated go live date of May of 2026.”

Why it matters: the clearinghouse is intended to flag when a person receives SNAP or other benefits in another state, reducing duplicate payments. Cantrell said the clearinghouse “does not verify income. It only verifies, is someone receiving benefits in a sister state, another state, so that we don't overlap the benefits.”

Funding and timeline: presenters said M503 is a program that will be funded 50% by federal SNAP funding and 50% by state general fund. Officials said a budget amendment will increase the state general‑fund request for SFY 2026 and change the Governor’s recommended amounts after the initial submission. On the on‑demand income verification system, staff said the federal government previously paid 100% but has recently changed that support; Nevada now expects the federal share to cover 75% with the state covering the remainder.

Fingerprinting: staff told the committee the Internal Revenue Service updated guidance that will require fingerprinting of employees — and proposed contractors and subcontractors who access federal identifying information — every five years; the division said it will submit a BDR and budget request to cover the anticipated cost.

Implementation details and limits: division staff repeatedly emphasized that the clearinghouse and the on‑demand verification are separate systems with different purposes and funding rules. Robert Thompson, division administrator, said the clearinghouse is limited to SNAP funding rules and cannot be cost‑shared with Medicaid as originally expected, which drove the increased state share for M503.

The division said they will submit the technical budget amendments and continue implementation work with the federal rollout schedule. No formal vote or policy change was taken at the hearing; members asked for follow‑up cost detail and staff said they would provide updated numbers through LCB.