Utah has thinnest slice of budget pie

When it comes to dividing the fat federal budget pie, Utah now receives the thinnest slice of any state.

The federal government spent $6,255 per resident in Utah in 2008, dead last among all states, according to a Census Bureau report released Thursday. The spending ranges from salaries of local federal workers to contracts with local companies, Medicare bills, Social Security payments, running military bases and much more.

The slice for Utahns was a third smaller than the average $9,042 that the federal government spent per person nationally in 2008 as the recession was gaining steam, and before the stimulus spending bill was passed.

Utah also dropped from next-to-last in 2007 to dead last in 2008. That happened as the average spent in Utah per resident dropped by $231 in that time. Meanwhile nationally, average spending per resident increased by $703.

Among reasons that Utah may be last are its young average age, so it receives less for such big-ticket items as Social Security and Medicare payments for the elderly. Also, its economy had been doing better than most areas, so it received less in such things as unemployment benefits and food stamps.

Also, Utah has a relatively small congressional delegation, which is four-fifths Republican amid a Democratic majority. It also has only one member, Sen. Bob Bennett, on an appropriations committee that divides the budget pie. All of that may hurt in the fight for federal money.

Freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who was not in Congress in 2008, the year studied in the new report, says earmarking money for home-state projects by bigger and more powerful delegations is among reasons "we certainly pay more than our fair share" in Utah.

He said, "There are a lot of shenanigans that happen in the earmark process as presently constituted." Still, he says earmarking "represents less than 1 percent of overall funding expenditures" — so demographic reasons are probably the key explanation behind why Utah receives less than most states.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, the only Democrat in the Utah delegation, said, "If you look at a pie chart of federal spending overall, Medicare and Social Security dominate. … Utah demographically, by a long way, has the largest proportion of young people of any state. I think that overwhelms all of the other variables out there."

Likewise, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said because Utah has a young population, "it follows that it does not collect as much federal funds from social programs as other states do. Utah's low unemployment and Utahns' healthy lifestyle are also factors."