One Big Beautiful Impact: Are you curious about the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1). In totality, over 3 million families are expected to lose SNAP assistance due to paperwork and work requirements, and we are concerned that less wealthy states may be forced to drop out of SNAP entirely if they can not make new required cost expectations in late 2027.

Some key domestic program dates (highlighted SNAP/hunger figures) to be mindful of are: 

• Immediately: The Department of Agriculture is barred from updating standards for the SNAP Thrifty Food Plan for several years and cannot increase its value beyond inflation.
• Immediately: New SNAP work requirements are imposed on Abled Bodied Adults without Dependents (ABAWDS), raising the max age from 54 to 64, and now including families with children over 14. States are barred from waiving these requirements during economic turbulence.
• Immediately: Several HHS rules designed to increase access to Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP child healthcare funding are frozen until 2034.
• October 2025: Due to large increases in the national deficit, without further action from Congress, possible sequestration could force the Office of Management and Budget to begin cuts to Medicare funding, due to Statutory Pay-Go rules. 
• December 2025: Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire, likely increasing insurance costs nationally.
• October 2026: States are now expected to pay 75% of SNAP administration, raised from 50%.
• December 2026: New Medicaid work requirements are imposed on ABAWDS, with new required check-ins every six months.
• October 2027: States are required to pay 0-15% of the cost of SNAP benefits, based on their FY25 or FY26 payment error rate. Certain states with the highest payment error rates are exempt until late 2028 and late 2029.
• October 2027: States capped on taxing certain health providers to 5.5%, gradually phasing down to 3.5% by 2031. Provider taxes are a core means of funding state Medicaid contributions, which will create a fiscal challenge for expanded Medicaid states. Meanwhile, states are now required to pay 5-15% of SNAP benefit costs in their state, depending on their administrative error rates.
• October 2029: Deadline for states to have built new Medicaid address systems designed to reduce individuals from participating in multiple Medicaid programs.
• 2032: Social Security and Medicare are now estimated to be insolvent, due to increase in the federal debt. 

Federal Budget: The House and Senate appropriations committees are advancing their annual appropriation bills. Though the House committee-advanced agriculture spending bill included cuts to the Women, Infants and Children program, the Senate full funded the measure and other rural development accounts. Lawmakers must past a budget by the fiscal deadline of Oct. 1 or risk a government shutdown. 

“Skinny” Farm Bill Advancing: Several major commodity and price setting provisions of the Farm Bill were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) of the House Agriculture committee has since said that he is interested in passing the rest of the Farm Bill ASAP in the fall – though social capital with House Democrats have soured since defunding much of the nutrition title and SNAP.

LEAN helps congregations meet with lawmakers year-round—not just during session.

Want to host a legislative forum or open house? Reach out to Pastor Paul to get started.

#PolicyIsPastoral #LutheransEngage #NevadaFaithVoices

On February 13, 2026, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—from conducting immigration enforcement actions in certain places of worship. This order applies within our synod. In partnership with the Bishop’s team, your conference deans have already submitted the addresses and descriptions of all our congregations to the court. No further action is required on your part. Congregations may choose to post signage indicating that their building is protected under this court order; however, this is entirely optional. Posting signage is not necessary in order to be covered by the order. A sample sign is included below. If you are concerned that posting signage could draw unwanted attention, please know there is no obligation to do so. If any incident occurs at your congregation that appears to violate this order, please notify Bishop Jeff immediately so that it can be reported to our legal team.

From Punishment to Restoration

Nevada has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States. This overreliance on incarceration:

• Drives a growing corrections budget at the expense of education, housing, and health care
• Produces high recidivism rates
• Exacerbates racial and ethnic disparities
• Destabilizes families and communities

Mass incarceration impacts urban and rural Nevada alike. While many incarcerated people come from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Reno, some of the highest imprisonment rates are in rural counties such as Nye, White Pine, and Pershing.

Native communities are disproportionately affected, with Native people making up 1.8% of the prison population but only 1.4% of the state population.

Why It Matters for Nevada

A system centered on punishment:

• Does not reduce repeat offenses
• Is one of the most expensive responses to social challenges
• Redirects public funds away from prevention and community investment
• Worsens workforce shortages by creating lifelong barriers to employment and housing

Nevada has taken a step toward fairness by ending prison gerrymandering, ensuring incarcerated people are counted in their home communities. The next step is transforming the system itself.

Historical Context

The U.S. Constitution abolished slavery “except as punishment for a crime.” This exception allowed forced labor and helped create a criminal legal system that has long been shaped by racial inequity.

Meaningful reform requires addressing this legacy. In 2024, Nevada voted to remove language ermitting slavery and involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment.

Faith & Moral Framework

As Lutherans, our advocacy is grounded in:

• The dignity of every person as created in the image of God
• Jesus’ call to mercy, restoration, and reconciliation
• Our baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace

The ELCA social statement The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries calls for:

• Ending for-profit prisons
• Addressing racial disparities
• Using incarceration only as a last resort
• Investing in rehabilitation and reentry

Public safety and human dignity belong together.

Policy Priorities for Nevada

LEAN supports policies that:

• Reduce Incarceration

• Support Successful Reentry

• Invest in What Makes Communities Safe

• Ensure Racial & Tribal Justice

The Opportunity

Every dollar spent on incarceration is a dollar not invested in:

• Schools
• Affordable housing
• Health care
• Food security
• Economic development

LEAN’s Vision

We seek a Nevada where:

• Accountability is paired with restoration
• Healing is possible
• Communities most impacted by incarceration are centered in policy solutions
• No one is treated as disposable

Because grace, redemption, and new life are at the heart of our faith — and should be at the heart of our justice system.

“Remember those who are in prison as though you were in prison with them.”

— Hebrews 13:3

“Confronting environmental and climate crises requires courage, cooperation and respect for all forms of knowledge.”

Read about the The Lutheran World Federation delegation’s experience at the seventh session of the U.N. Environment Assembly (UNEA-7).

For more on the Talanoa Dialogue Process, “a safe space that embraces mutual respect [which] encourages advancement of decision making for a greater good,” see https://resources.elca.org/…/talanoa-dialogue-process…/.