Posted by:
Steve Dubb
State domestic spending three times that of feds
An analysis of domestic government spending by the Progressive States Network finds that states spend over $2 trillion on domestic programs, three times the amount of funds directly administered by the federal government. This disparity—the opposite of what is usually assumed to be the case—comes from the fact that much of federal spending supports “defense and international relations, interest payments on the federal debt, and transfer payments to the states, who actual administer most programs.”
As the Progressive State Network analysis notes: this has implications regarding where policy change is likely to begin: Namely, the states often lead the federal government. For instance, the authors note that “Twenty-nine states passed state civil rights laws preceding passage of the landmark federal 1964 Civil Rights law.” A more recent example also noted by the authors is the spate of minimum wage laws that exceed the federal minimum wage, which ultimately led to the raising of the federal minimum this year.
Other areas of state innovation: as the Progressive State Network notes, in recent years states have “enacted renewable energy standards for public utilities, established paid family leave laws, financed public education, made voting easier through same day registration laws, protected gay rights in the workplace and are continuing to enact innovative legislation that is driving the public agenda.”
Another of these areas, as noted on our website, are community wealth building policies themselves. For instance, see our section on state asset-building policies or our more general section on new state and local policies.