Cortez Masto Delivers Pay Raise for Service Members and Vital Support for Affordable Housing, Mental Health, and Education Programs

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) delivered over $84 million in funding to community projects across Nevada, and passed critical support for affordable housing, small businesses, mental health services, child care, and education programs across Nevada. She also delivered a 3.8% pay raise for service members and vital reforms to lower drug prices. These victories were included in the Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; National Security and Department of State; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and the Financial Services and General Government funding bills, which will soon be signed into law.

"These bills not only deliver critical support to Nevadans across the state, but they also reject many of President Trump's cruel proposed funding cuts - including to the Alzheimer's research grant program I helped establish, " said Senator Cortez Masto. "Thanks to this funding, our service members will get a pay raise, our schools and businesses will see more resources, and more families will be able to afford a home."

Senators Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen worked together to secure over $84 million for community projects across Nevada, including:

• $4 million to help the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe's health clinic expand to meet current needs;
• $2 million to support the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Nursing Education Innovation project to train more nurses in Nevada;
• $3 million to help the University of Nevada, Reno being the planning and construction of a new Cancer Research Center;
• Millions to upgrade roadways in Red Rock National Conservation Area and across six counties Nevada to make them safer and easier to travel;
• $2.5 million to modernize the North Las Vegas library;
• $7.8 million to construct a much-needed community center in West Wendover;
• $2 million for the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority for terminal improvements and $1.1 million for the Clark County Department of Aviation to reconstruct the Airfield Rescue and Fire Fighting Station at Harry Reid International Airport; and
• $1 million to support small business growth at the Northern Nevada Center of Excellence Small Business Incubator project in Fernley.

The full list of community projects can be found here.

These funding bills deliver billions for the Small Business Administration and K-12 schools, reject many of President Trump's proposed cuts to foreign aid, fund child care programs, support increased rental assistance, maintain Pell Grants, pay air-traffic controllers and other critical federal employees, and deliver a much-needed a pay raise for our service members. The bill also includes important pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms to bring more transparency and accountability to these health care middlemen. Specifically, it includes language Cortez Masto has advocated for to ensure seniors with Medicare get the best deal on their prescription drug coverage by requiring PBMs to disclose behind-the-scenes practices that drive up costs.

The five FY26 Appropriations bills passed yesterday also include:

• $10 million to help refine more rare earth minerals here in America;
• $5 million to help enhance the U.S.'s domestic battery supply;
• Funding to purchase six new C-130J aircraft for the Air National Guard;
• $164 million support mental health in schools, including funding to hire more mental health professionals, and $30 million for suicide prevention programs;
• $1.25 billion for the HOME Program to help families afford homes;
• Language to require the FCC to report on progress of its broadband funding map Cortez Masto fought for; and
• The bill also includes increased funding for Cortez Masto's BOLD Infrastructure For Alzheimer's Act, which had been previously threatened by the Trump Administration.

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