A new report by UAA's Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) analyzes federal spending in Alaska. For the last five years, base spending has been about $10 billion per year, but in 2009 and 2010 Alaska received additional funds from the stimulus package - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - that added $2.2 billion in additional federal funds.
Defense is the largest category of spending, at 36% of the total, followed by grants to state and local governments and nonprofits at 29%. Direct payments to individuals are about 22% of the total, and spending by civilian agencies was 13%.
- Defense spending was $3.42 billion, with just over half for procurement and just under half for wages.
- Alaska received $2.7 billion in federal grants, with just over half for formula grants (like Medicaid) and just under half for project grants.
- Direct payments to individuals totaled $2.04 bilion, with two-thirds for federal retirement programs and one-third for other direct payments (including Medicare, unemployment compensation and more).
- Civilian agency spending was $1.27 billion, with two-thirds for payroll and one-third for procurement.
In 2008, the year before the additional stimulus spending, per-capita federal spending in Alaska was $13,700 - the third highest in the U.S. and 52% higher than the U.S. average. The report notes that the Alaska differential in per capita spending was once as high as 82%.
Information from "Federal Spending in Alaska: Running Out of Steam?" by Scott Goldsmith. The report is part of ISER's "Investing for Alaska's Future" research initiative, funded by a grant from Northrim Bank.
Sorry about that - the links should be fixed now.
Posted by: Alaskanomics Editor | Monday, May 21, 2012 at 10:05 AM
Neither of the links to the source report is working. Can you please update?
Posted by: Alaskan | Friday, May 18, 2012 at 09:39 PM