Saturday Data: The value of Federal Spending in Your State

     It PEW again to the rescue, generating a report that shows not only the amount of federal spending ($3.3 Trillion in 2013!) in each of the states, but also who is the beneficiary of that spending and what part of the states' budgets it represents.

      Alabama is the 4th biggest recipient of Federal spending, despite the constant call from the Alabama Congressional delegation to cut the federal budget.
     And the largest portion of those federal dollars go to retirement and non-retirement benefits. The rest comes in the form grants, contracts and salaries.
 

   I was just talking with a fella on the street Wednesday about how great Dexter Avenue in  downtown Montgomery looks, and that virtually all of that work on the streetscape was paid for with federal dollars.  

     19% may be the national average, but in Alabama Federal spending represents between 27% and 42% of all government spending.

     The next time you hear about a "grant" funding this program or that project in your town---even if it arrives through ADECA, you can bet it originated in Washington D.C. 

Alltogether now "Thank you Federal Government!" 
The entire PEW report is HERE. 

[Saturday Data is a regular feature of www.timlennox.com]