Wisconsin’s share of federal money jumps in 2009

Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-Wausau) announced today that recent figures from the Bureau of the Census show that Wisconsin, which has traditionally been 47 or 48 in its per capita receipt of federal tax money has now moved dramatically up to 21.

“Because Wisconsin isn’t home to large military bases or lots of federal employees, we’ve been at the bottom of the pack in terms of the per capita return on federal tax dollars for years, with a very low return from federal salaries and wages, federal retirement, or procurement dollars,” Obey said. “That changed last year! Federal funding in Wisconsin jumped by over 50 percent – from $40 billion to more than $61 billion – moving us from 48th in the nation to 21st in terms of per capita federal dollars.”

“That’s significantly ahead of the average increase in federal spending nationally which went up by 16 percent,” Obey added.

A large part of the increase in funding is due to the economic recession and the government’s response to help the economy, Obey said.

“Like every state, part of Wisconsin’s increase in federal funding was due to increased spending on unemployment and other benefits for workers and families who were hit by the recession. But what helped us so much more than others was our ability to capitalize on the increased investments made by the Recovery Act and other government actions to help the economy. We saw federal grants and procurement dollars to Wisconsin businesses and universities more than double as the Department of Defense and other agencies bought more Wisconsin products.”

Census data shows that Wisconsin grant funding jumped from $8.4 billion to $19.2 billion – moving the state from 41st in the nation to 7th in its per capita federal grants funding. Major grant increases came especially through the departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, which all saw increases from 130 to 190 percent over the previous year. The increase in health and human services grant funding alone accounts for more than a third of Wisconsin’s increased federal funding ($8.5 billion out of $21 billion increase). Wisconsin also enjoyed a big increase in grants through the Department of Transportation, which were up 64 percent and through the Department of Housing which soared by 74 percent.

Wisconsin also saw a big increase in funding through procurement contracts, largely through the Department of Defense. In 2008, Wisconsin’s share of DoD funding totaled just under $3.3 billion. In 2009, that jumped to nearly $8.1 billion, elevating Wisconsin from 38th in the nation to 16th in its share of federal procurement dollars.

“I’m glad that the Recovery Act has provided an opportunity for Wisconsin state government and Wisconsin businesses to do so well to compete for a fair share of federal tax dollars,” Obey said.

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