October 29, 2009
New Report Highlights State and Local Government Spending Priorities
Census Data Show What States Spend on Education, Public Welfare, Hospitals, Other Services
Washington, DC, October 29, 2009 -- Based on recently released Census data, a new Tax Foundation report reveals state and local government spending priorities.
State and local government spending is broken down for nine specific functional categories and a miscellaneous catch-all: K-12 education, higher education, public welfare, hospitals and health, transportation, public safety, environment and housing, government administration, interest on debt and other. In each category, the percentage of total spending is shown so that state priorities can be compared whether combined state and local budgets are comparatively large or small.
"Earlier this month, we released a report looking at Census data on state and local government revenue sources, and this new spending information completes the picture of state and local government finances," said Tax Foundation Senior Economist Gerald Prante, who authored Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No. 199, "Where Do State and Local Governments Concentrate Their Spending?"
The Fiscal Fact is available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/25452.html and includes the most recent state and local finance data from the Census Bureau, for fiscal year 2007.
"Combined state-local data is best for interstate comparison because what some states accomplish with local spending is accomplished in other states with state-level programs," Prante noted.
The states that concentrate their spending on K-12 education are, from 1 to 10, New Jersey (31.8%), New Hampshire (28.6%), Texas (28.0%), Connecticut (27.7%), Michigan (27.2%), Virginia (26.9%), Georgia (26.8%), Arkansas (26.0%), Vermont (25.2%) and Maryland (25.2%). The national average is 23.9%.
The states that concentrate spending on higher education are, from 1 to 10, Utah (15.5%), North Dakota (15.4%), North Carolina (14.2%), Vermont (13.7%), Iowa (13.2%), Alabama (13.2%), Kansas (13.0%), Oklahoma (12.6%), Arkansas (12.3%) and New Mexico (12.2%). The national average is 9.1%.
The states that spend the highest percentage on public welfare are, from 1 to 1, Maine (24.3%), Rhode Island (23.7%), Minnesota (22.8%), Vermont (22.7%), Pennsylvania (21.7%), Massachusetts (21.7%), New York (21.6%), Arkansas (21.4%), Kentucky (21.2%) and Tennessee (20.8%), compared to the national average of 16.8%.
The states that concentrate spending on health and hospitals are, from 1 to 10, South Carolina (15.9%), Wyoming (15.2%), Alabama (14.7%), Mississippi (13.6%), North Carolina (12.9%), Tennessee (12.2%), Iowa (12.1%), Washington (11.6%), Georgia (10.6%) and Missouri (10.5%). The national average is 8.4%.
The states that spend the highest percentage on transportation are, from 1 to 10, South Dakota (15.8%), Alaska (15.6%), North Dakota (14.2%), Montana (12.2%), Nevada (12.2%), Georgia (11.5%), Wyoming (10.8%), Idaho (9.7%), Kentucky (9.6%) and Washington (9.5%). The national average is 7.6%.
The states that spend the highest percentage on public safety are, from 1 to 10, Nevada (13.6%), Arizona (12.2%), California (12.0%), Florida (11.2%), Maryland (10.5%), Oregon (10.4%), Colorado (10.0%), Rhode Island (9.8%), Virginia (9.7%) and Illinois (9.0%), compared to the national average of 9.1%.
The states that concentrate spending on the environment and housing are, from 1 to 10, Louisiana (15.1%), Florida (11.1%), Washington (9.7%), Hawaii (9.6%), South Dakota (9.3%), California (9.3%), Oregon (9.1%), Arizona (9.1%), Colorado (9.0%) and Maryland (8.9%), compared to the national average of 7.7%.
The states that concentrate spending on government administration are, from 1 to 10, Delaware (8.6%), Nevada (7.8%), Utah (7.8%), Montana (7.4%), Alaska (7.1%), West Virginia (7.0%), Rhode Island (6.9%), Colorado (6.9%), California (6.7%) and Oregon (6.6%). The national average is 5.3%.
Finally, the states that spend the highest percentage on debt interest are, from 1 to 10, Massachusetts (7.4%), Hawaii (5.6%), New Hampshire (5.5%), Rhode Island (5.3%), Illinois (5.3%), Texas (5.1%), Connecticut (5.1%), Colorado (5.1%), Kentucky (4.9%) and Pennsylvania (4.9%). The national average is 4.1%.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
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Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact No.199, "Where Do State and Local Governments Concentrate Their Spending?" is available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/25452.html. To schedule an interview, please contact Natasha Altamirano, the Tax Foundation's Manager of Media Relations, at (202) 464-5102 or naltamirano@taxfoundation.org.
