Western Governors' Assn. Chairman Jon M. Huntsman Jr., Utah's Republican governor, said: "I don't know if I'd call it neglect," but federal officials "have been impervious to the growth here over the last generation."
Officials across the region need to band together on common problems, he said, and press for federal officials to shift their focus.
Greater Las Vegas, which includes Clark County, neighboring Nye County and Mohave County, Ariz., has experienced the fastest boom in the area the report studied.
In the past, said Tracy Bower of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, local funding seemed to be the best approach when, for example, the area needed a beltway.
"It's been a way to deliver things when they're needed so quickly," Bower said.
But the souring economy has made it more difficult for Nevada to pay its own way. Gambling revenue has plummeted, and the state unemployment rate is higher than the national average. The report identified education funding and job creation in "knowledge cluster" fields -- including financial services, information technology and healthcare -- as particularly pressing needs.
Of the five areas studied, Las Vegas has the largest percentage of people struggling with English. Nearly a fifth of residents are foreign-born, a higher percentage than in the other areas.
It also has the smallest fraction of residents with a high school diploma, and with graduate or professional degrees -- 19.2%, compared with 27.2% nationwide. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has the weakest research capacity of its peers in the Intermountain West, the report said, and state budget cuts are expected to hit hard.
"We've been scrambling to keep up with the growth," said Neal Smatresk, the university's provost. "We don't want a lack of federal funding and state support to take the wind out of our sails."
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ashley.powers@latimes.com
