Lawmaker wants to update state's base budget year

(AP) - A Nevada lawmaker wants to update the base year for the state budget cap to account for fluctuations in population and revenues.

No action was taken Wednesday on SB250 sponsored by Reno Republican state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer.

Kieckhefer calls the current formula based on the 1975-1977 biennium meaningless because it goes back to when the state government spent $390 million.

He wants to replace it with a formula based on 2005-2007 figures.

The state allocated

$5.8 billion those years.

Nevada had just under 650,000 residents in 1976. The state demographer says that figure grew to 2.7 million people in 2010.

Kieckhefer says his proposal would move the baseline to cover Nevada's best and worst years.