Nevada last in federal spending per capita

CARSON CITY -- Nevada came in dead last in federal largess in fiscal year 2006 at $5,852 per capita, a new Census report released Wednesday showed.

The spending in Nevada compares to $16,263 in the top-ranked state of Louisiana.

The high spending for Louisiana and Mississippi, at $14,516, probably has to do with post-Hurricane Katrina aid. The two states are also among the nation's poorest.

Reasons for Nevada being a donor state in terms of federal funding might have more to do with 87 percent of the land being in federal control and the state's rapid population growth rather than the ability of the congressional delegation to bring home the bucks.

A Tax Foundation report released last year showed Nevada received only 73 cents in federal spending for every dollar that its residents paid in federal income taxes, based on 2004 numbers. Foundation officials cited the federal ownership issue as one reason for Nevada's ranking, along with a high per capita income.

Other reasons cited for Nevada's ranking include a low rate of obtaining federal grant funding and the fact that federal funds often come in the form of retiree benefits that states cannot control.

The ranking is not new. Nevada has typically come in at the low end of the states for various reasons, officials said.

Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said federal grants often require matching state and local funds that are not always available.

"It's another reason why Senator Reid fights hard to get funding specifically for Nevada projects," said Summers, who noted that the report dates to before Reid's ascension as majority leader. "Recognizing that Nevada tends to be closer to the bottom of the list, the senator works to get Congress to direct funds for programs important to our state."

Matt Leffingwell, a spokesman for Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., said the funding formula for disbursement of federal dollars has not kept pace with Nevada's population growth.

"Congressman Porter has consistently worked to ensure that Nevada receives federal monies through the appropriations process and other legislative means," Leffingwell said.

David Cherry, communications director for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Nevada does not have large numbers of the types of populations that generate increased federal dollars, such as those with higher poverty levels.

If special appropriations to states, called earmarks, were curtailed, it would eliminate one way Nevada can improve that disparity, Cherry said.

Berkley has fought to bring federal dollars to Nevada for various projects, but a potential source of additional revenue, supporting creation of a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, is one she never will back, Cherry said.