---

(Reno, NV) – Governor Brian Sandoval is recommending lawmakers approve his $8.1 billion dollar biennial budget proposal that would advance more than $33 million dollars to allow construction on the greatly anticipated and much needed Northern Nevada State Veterans Home in Reno.  
 
If approved, the Governor’s proposal will save taxpayers millions of dollars because every year of delay, results in increased construction and operating costs.  
 
The new home in northern Nevada will fill a wide gap in skilled care nursing for northern Nevada veterans. It will keep them near their home, family and support network. Currently, these veterans are being sent out of state, mostly to California where the closest facilities without a lengthy waiting list are in Fresno or Redding.  
 
The project would also provide an estimated $14.4 annual economic boost to the local economy. Additionally, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development estimates it will create 126 permanent jobs as well as hundreds of construction jobs.  
 
The State has already appropriated $14 million in state funding to meet Nevada’s match requirement to obtain a $33.5 million federal grant. Nevada will be reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Grant Office when Congress appropriates sufficient funding for this project as Nevada remains competitive in the process. 
 
The Nevada Department of Veterans Services is ready to begin construction immediately, if lawmakers approve the proposal. The new home fulfills the Governor’s goal of making Nevada “the friendliest state in the nation to veterans and Nevada’s military community.”