A new report from a Washington think tank says Nevada ranks dead last in getting federal dollars for state programs.

And, the Brookings Institution says, we have only ourselves to blame. It seems our miserly support of social programs is leaving millions of federal dollars on the table.

Nevada receives just $742 dollars per person in 2008, barely half the average for the rest of the country.

More than a third of that funding is for health programs, primarily medicaid. The $315 dollars per capita. The rest of the country averages $892.

It's not that the money isn't there. In 2008 the federal government allocated $51 million dollars for Nevada Check Up, a medical insurance program for low income children. The state chipped in $14 million, $11 million short of the full funding target set by the feds. So, of that 51 million, we received less than $29 million, leaving the rest on the table.

None of this surprises Reno Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, a veteran of many funding battles in Carson City.

Leslie says the question comes up every legislative session, How can we get more federal funding and the answer is always the same federal funding comes with a matching formula, you have to put in more to get more.

"We're just not willing to invest in our citizens the way other states are."

To many keeping a lid on social programs low is smart policy, keeping taxes low and protecting the state from expensive obligations in the future.
The governor recently floated the idea of pulling Nevada out of medicaid altogether, arguing if health care reform passes, the state's medicaid patient load would double, costing the state hundreds of millions more.
Leslie contends a majority of lawmakers regrets leaving federal funds unclaimed, but says it comes down to available revenue. The money just isn't there.

"But it's also true that Nevada until now has been content to say 'well, we just have to live within our means. We can't afford these social programs."

Which, she says, is penny-wise and pound-foolish. "We end up paying more in emergency rooms and building prisons when people get into trouble because they don't have essential services."

But, you may be asking, can't our representatives, including the most powerful senator in Washington get us a bigger slice of the federal pie?

Not with this kind of funding which is determined by formula, not political influence. When the state doesn't match federal funding targets or fails to fund a program at all, the feds send smaller checks.

Still, this is a potential problem for Senator Harry Reid in a tight race for reelection, a bid based on his claim that he "delivers for Nevada." That's why his office released a statement today arguing the senator does gather a lot of federal dollars for Nevada through other means--earmarks.

There's one other factor working against Nevada. Population levels also play a role in those formulas and state officials have long claimed the census has failed to fully measure our fast growing, highly mobile population.