Demographics and the Economy - United States

United States: State Budgets

Compare United States to:

State Budgets

Total State Expenditures (in millions), SFY2007
	US $	US $
	$1,438,071	$1,438,071

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Total State Expenditures per Capita, SFY2007
	US $	US $
	$4,773	$4,773

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Distribution of State General Fund Expenditures (in millions), SFY2007
	US %	US $	US %	US $
Elementary & Secondary	34.5%	$224,819	34.5%	$224,819
Higher Education	11.2%	$73,054	11.2%	$73,054
Public Assistance	1.9%	$12,524	1.9%	$12,524
Medicaid	16.9%	$110,228	16.9%	$110,228
Other Cash Assistance	1.2%	$7,513	1.2%	$7,513
Corrections	6.7%	$43,904	6.7%	$43,904
Transportation	1.0%	$6,786	1.0%	$6,786
All Other	27.7%	$180,959	27.7%	$180,959
Total	100.0%	$652,272	100.0%	$652,272

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Notes:

Data are for state fiscal year 2007 and include general fund, federal funds, other state funds, and bonds.

Sources:

Tables 1 (All expenditures), Table 7 (Elementary and Secondary Education), Table 12 (Higher Education), Table 18 (Public Assistance), Table 24 (Other Cash Assistance), Table 28 (Medicaid), Table 32 (Corrections), Table 38 (Transportation), Table 43 (All Other), 2007 State Expenditure Report, National Association of State Budget Officers, 2008. Available at http://www.nasbo.org/, February 2009.

Definitions:

NA: Data not available.
General Fund: the predominant fund for financing a states operations. Revenues are received from broad-based state taxes. There are differences in how specific functions are financed from state to state.

Elementary and Secondary Education: excludes local funds raised for education purposes. States also were asked to include, where applicable, state expenditures that support the states Department of Education, transportation of school children, adult literacy programs, handicapped education programs, programs for other special populations (i.e., gifted and talented programs), anti-drug programs, and vocational education. States were asked to exclude spending for day care programs in the school system and spending for school health and immunization programs.

Higher Education: states were requested to include expenditures made for capital construction, community colleges, vocational education, law, medical, veterinary, nursing and technical schools, and assistance to private colleges and universities, as well as tuition and fees and student loan programs. Higher education expenditures exclude federal research grants and endowments to universities.

Public Assistance: includes expenditures for cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, and other cash assistance (i.e., state supplements to the Supplemental Security Income program, general or emergency assistance). States were asked to exclude administrative costs from reported expenditures.

Other Cash Assistance: includes state participation in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, General Assistance (GA), and emergency assistance.

Medicaid: exclude administrative costs, while including spending from state funds, federal matching funds and other funds and revenue sources used as Medicaid match such as provider taxes, fees, assessments, donations, and local funds. Medicaid general funds include all funds appropriated to the Medicaid agency and any other agency which are used for direct Medicaid matching purposes under Title XIX. All other general funds include state functions not tracked individually, such as hospitals, economic development, housing, environmental programs, health programs (including the State Child Health Insurance Program), parks and recreation, natural resources, air transportation, and water transportation and terminals.

Corrections: states were asked to include, where applicable, expenditures for capital construction, aid to local governments for jails, parole programs, prison industries, and community corrections, as well as expenditures made for juvenile correction programs. States were asked to exclude expenditures for drug abuse rehabilitation programs and institutions for the criminally insane.

Transportation: includes capital and operating expenditures for highways, mass transit, and airports. States were also asked to include expenditures for road assistance for local governments, the administration of the department of transportation, truck and train/railroad programs, motor vehicle licensing, and gas tax and fee collection. The data exclude spending for port authorities, state police and highway patrol.

All Other: includes all remaining programs not captured in the functional categories previously described, including the State Childrens Health Insurance Program and any debt service for other state programs (i.e., environmental projects, housing). States with lotteries were asked to exclude prizes paid to lottery winners. States were also asked to exclude expenditures for state-owned utilities and liquor stores.

State Fiscal Year: The State Fiscal Year (SFY) begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 in 46 states; however, in Alabama and Michigan, the fiscal year begins on October 1; in Texas, the fiscal year begins on September 1; and in New York, the fiscal year begins on April 1. For example, in the 46 states following the July to June definition, SFY 2009 would refer to the period from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.