FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2001
Public Information Office CB01-73
301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax)
301-457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: pio@census.gov
Gerard Keffer
301-457-1565
Federal Domestic Spending Up 6 Percent in 2000;
Five States Received One-Third of All Funds,
Census Bureau Reports
The federal government provided more than $1.6 trillion in domestic
benefits, subsidies, grants, goods and services, and salaries and wages in
fiscal year 2000 a 6 percent increase over 1999, according to two reports
released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
California benefitted more than any state, receiving $176 billion,
followed by New York at $110 billion, Texas with $106 billion, Florida at
$93 billion and Pennsylvania with $74 billion. Combined, these five
states received 34 percent of all federal expenditures.
Altogether, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for $781
billion in 2000, 48 percent of the U.S. government's domestic spending.
"The largest increases in fiscal year 2000 federal spending were in the
categories of procurement awards, direct payments to individuals for
retirement and disability and other direct payments," said Gerard Keffer,
chief of the Census Bureau's federal programs branch.
Federal procurement awards in 2000 were $223 billion, a 7.3 percent
increase over 1999, with Department of Defense contracts accounting for
$134 billion, or 60 percent of all such awards.
Direct payments to individuals for retirement and disability in 2000
reached $556 billion, up 6.2 percent over 1999, with Social Security alone
totaling $444 billion, a 7.0 percent increase.
Other direct payments in 2000 totaled $365 billion, a 6.1 percent
increase, including Medicare at $216 billion, up 3.4 percent. These
include housing assistance, excess earned income tax credit and food
stamps.
Spending on grant awards in 2000 totaled $309 billion, up 5.1 percent
from 1999. The grant awards represent both formula grants and block
grants. Formula grants are prescribed by law. Block grants represent a
fixed level of spending for specific projects. The grant awards also
include money spent on project grants such as scholarships, fellowships,
training programs and construction programs.
Medicaid payments totaling $121 billion come under grant awards.
Medicaid payments were up 9.1 percent in 2000. Federal government salaries
and wages were $185 billion, up 4.1 percent.
At the county or county-equivalent level, New York City, N.Y. ($47.2
billion), led the list of recipients, followed by Los Angeles County,
Calif. ($46.9 billion), Cook County, Ill. ($26.9 billion), San Diego
County, Calif. ($19.0 billion), and Harris County, Texas ($15.5 billion).
Among states, per capita federal spending was highest in Alaska
($9,456), followed by Virginia ($8,859), Maryland ($8,513), North Dakota
($8,166) and New Mexico ($7,954). The rest of the top 10, in order, were:
Hawaii ($7,441), South Dakota ($6,807), Alabama ($6,570), Rhode Island
($6,559) and Montana ($6,558). The state per capita rankings often differ
from the ranking for the states where the most government funds were
provided. This is a factor of state populations, the number of federally
funded programs in a state and the number of federal workers residing in a
state.
Population figures used to calculate per capita for the 50 states and
all county or county- equivalent areas represent resident population from
the census of April 1, 2000.
Defense Department domestic spending, which includes procurement
contracts, payroll, military pensions and grants, totaled $238 billion in
2000, up 3.6 percent from 1999.
The top five states in Defense Department spending in 2000 were
California ($29.3 billion), Virginia ($24.5 billion), Texas ($20.6
billion), Florida ($13.5 billion) and Maryland ($8.6 billion). For
counties or county equivalents, the top five recipients of federal defense
funds were Los Angeles County, ($8.5 billion), San Diego County, ($7.6
billion), Fairfax County, Va. ($4.8 billion), Tarrant County, Texas ($4.4
billion), and St. Louis city, Mo. ($4.3 billion).
In addition to providing an overall picture of domestic spending by the
federal government as a whole, the reports provide breakouts of spending
by federal agencies.
The Census Bureau report, "Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal
Year 2000 (State and County Areas)," covers most domestic spending by the
federal government. The largest item excluded is interest on the federal
debt.
The report is the only consolidated source of state and local data on
the majority of direct federal expenditures, as well as data on federal
loan and insurance programs. A companion report, Federal Aid to States for
Fiscal Year 2000, contains federal agency and program-level data on grants
to state and local governments.
The data in these reports are not subject to sampling variability. The
data are subject to nonsampling errors, which include errors of response
and processing.
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