U.S. Senator Dick Lugar - Federal Spending in Indiana

Federal Spending in Indiana

Introduction | Indiana's Federal Funds | The Lugar Process | 2010 Requests

Introduction
The State of Indiana received $47,254,172,000 in federal funding for the last year tallied (2007).

Congressionally requested funding is the least likely and most difficult method for obtaining funding for a project. Funding from local revenue, state and federal grants, and existing government funding programs represent the bulk of funding for projects.

The Congressional Research Service also offers three reports on the general appropriations/budget process:

Indiana’s Federal Funds
Federal expenditures in 2007 to Indiana were $47,254,172,000 (according to the Consolidated Federal Funds Report for Fiscal Year 2007 by the U.S. Census Bureau). Of this, $16.6 billion were Social Security and other retirement and disability payments. Medicare payments totaled $6.8 billion. There was another $5.5 billion in direct payments to people including: $564 million in farm payments, $726 million in excess earned income tax credits, $797 million in unemployment compensation and $677 million in food stamp payments.

More than $5 billion of the $8.8 billion in grants to Indiana are for family Health and Human Services assistance. Other large grant programs include: $1.8 billion in transportation and highway funding, $616 million in education funding, $343 million in Housing and Urban Development grants, and $451 million in Department of Agriculture grants.

A pie chart depicting the federal spending in Indiana

Indiana’s economy has been traditionally less dependent on federal government expenditures than the nation as a whole. In 2007, Indiana was 2.1 percent of the nation’s population and received 1.8 percent of federal government expenditures, and only 1.1 percent of federal wages and salaries. Of the $2.8 billion in federal wages and salaries in the state, the majority go to the Postal Service ($1.2 billion) and the military ($604 million).

Indiana’s percentage of retirement, disability and other direct payments to people match its percentage of the nation’s population. The state receives 1.8 percent of the nation’s grants. States with larger welfare and urban infrastructure payments tend to have grant percentage payments larger than their population percentage.

Indiana receives 1.5 percent of federal procurement dollars. On a per capita basis, the state has significantly more procurement than Michigan, Illinois or Ohio, and less than Kentucky. The correlations of procurement to population are: Michigan 0.54, Illinois 0.48, Ohio 0.54, Indiana 0.71 and Kentucky 0.79.

Indiana does well compared to its neighbors on military procurement. Of Indiana’s $5.4 billion in federal procurement expenditures, $4.6 billion are from the military. That is higher than the neighboring states except Ohio, which had $6 billion and Kentucky, which had $5.3 billion in military contracts.

The Lugar Process
Senate and Congressional offices help guide officials from Indiana entities, cities, towns, and counties through federal funding options and seek to identify the appropriate programs that can provide funding for the project.

In early 2008, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell asked Lugar to chair a working group of five Republican Senators with the range of views on earmarks. On March 11, they provided the Majority Leader with a consensus report.

Though the Senate Republican Caucus did not formally adopt the recommendations, Senator Lugar followed the guidelines in 2008. In 2009, pursuant to Senate rules, all Senators are required to post all requests on their personal websites when the requests are made of the Appropriations Subcommittees. This post must include the requesting entity, the entity’s location, the requested amount, the purpose of the project, and an explanation of why the project is in the interests of the taxpayers.

As part of the evaluation process, Senator Lugar requires several pieces of information for each project: a formal letter of request and a completed internal application form. The formal letter of request is written to Senator Lugar and signed by the highest ranking official of that particular entity (mayor, county commissioner, college president, etc.). The application form for each project helps provide an opportunity to illustrate a fuller picture of the project.

Senator Lugar requests a comprehensive project description, a detailed itemization of how money would be spent, the purpose of the project, other sources or contributions of funding, and the impetus for the project. Other supporting information is often included, such as maps, photos and other supporting materials.

Additionally, Senator Lugar and staff hold meetings with many of the requesting entities. Staff may make onsite visits, arrange conference calls and communicate further with Hoosiers throughout the request process. Senator Lugar also welcomes letters of support from interested parties in the community. While a specific number of letters is not required, it provides an opportunity for citizens to express their views on the project.

Following vigorous internal review, project requests are then forwarded to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

2010 Lugar Requests
Below are links to requests submitted by Senator Lugar to the Appropriations Subcommittees.

Appropriations Requests

Authorization Requests

The Lugar Letter