Utah's share of federal spending pie: $13.7 billion

Utah received nearly $13.7 billion of the $2.2 trillion pie of direct federal spending for fiscal year 2004, according to the Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal Year 2004.

It may sound like a lot, but that funding ranks Utah third from the bottom in per capita spending among states.

Utah received $5,728 per capita, less than every other state except for Nevada and Minnesota, according to the report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. The national average was $7,223.

However, Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, said that per capita rankings can be misleading when it comes to Utah, the nation's youngest state. That means Utah has a high proportion of people who aren't working age, he said.

"A more accurate measure would be spending as a share of personal income, rather than per capita," Spendlove said. "It's looking at it relative to the state's total economy."

When compared that way, federal spending in Utah is 21.3 percent of total personal income, ranking the state 31st in the nation, which is roughly comparable to its population ranking, Spendlove said. Utah ranks 34th in population.

Another way to look at it: "Approximately a quarter of all income to the state is in the form of federal spending."

The Consolidated Federal Funds Report data cover federal expenditures or obligations for direct payments, grants, procurement awards, and salaries and wages provided by any federal agency and/or program, for state and county areas of the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. outlying areas.

Overall federal spending was $2.2 trillion, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.

Nationally, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for more than $1 trillion — nearly one half of the spending. Some $347.7 billion was spent on defense.

In comparison to the national increase of 5 percent, Utah saw just a 1.4 percent increase in federal spending over 2003.

The trend over the past several years, though, had been the opposite, Spendlove said. From 2002-03, Utah saw a 9.7 percent increase compared to a national 6.4 percent increase.