With Overall State Spending Up, Transportation Sees Notable Gains
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At least 18 states raised spending on transportation programs by 10% or more in fiscal 2019, based on estimates in a new report.
State government spending across the U.S. increased to an estimated $2.1 trillion in fiscal year 2019, with the amount of money going toward transportation notably growing, according to a report that the National Association of State Budget Officers released on Thursday.
Overall spending was up from $2 trillion in fiscal 2018. That means spending grew in 2019 at an estimated rate of 5.7%, slightly above a 33-year average of 5.6%, NASBO said. The findings were included in the latest edition of the group’s State Expenditure Report.
Brian Sigritz, NASBO’s director of state fiscal studies, said the spending increases can be traced to some extent to more robust tax collections states have seen in the past two years. General fund revenues were more sluggish during fiscal years 2016 and 2017.
"The relatively strong national economy, that has led to gains in state revenues," Sigritz said.
Amid these windfalls, some states are putting more money toward transportation.
During 2019, NASBO’s report indicates that 18 states increased spending of state funds on transportation by at least 10%. Overall state transportation spending, including proceeds from bonds and federal funds flowing to states, grew at a rate of 8.9%.
Transportation spending by states in 2019 was roughly $172 billion, about 8% of total expenditures.
Sigritz pointed out that there are both Democratic and Republican states that have prioritized transportation in the past five years or so.
In some places this has meant raising gas taxes, imposing fees on electric vehicles and adding toll lanes. Some of the revenue from sources like these is now working its way through budgets.
NASBO tracks spending in seven program areas, all of which saw estimated increases in spending during fiscal 2019, which ended on June 30 for most states.
Along with transportation, the area where spending grew the most was an “all other” category that can include a range of items, such as pension contributions, employee pay raises, “rainy day” or reserve fund savings, and expenses tied to natural disasters.
Seventeen states spent at least 10% more state funds in this “all other” category in fiscal 2019, while the overall growth rate was 7.5%. What share of this spending went toward specific areas, like pensions or rainy day funds for instance, isn’t outlined in the NASBO report.
Education and Medicaid continue to be big cost drivers for states. Excluding federal funds and bonds, in fiscal 2019 about 25% of state spending went toward K-12 programs and 13% went toward higher education, while about 16.4% was allocated to Medicaid.
When including federal funds, Medicaid accounted for nearly 29% of state spending in fiscal 2019.
Medicaid has increased as a share of state spending since the Great Recession and after the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was enacted, growing from around 20% in 2008 to its current level, although in 2019 it fell slightly as a proportion of state spending.
The Affordable Care Act gave states the option to expand Medicaid to cover more people. The program, which provides health insurance coverage for low income Americans, is “counter-cyclical,” meaning costs tend to go down when the economy is better.
A copy of NASBO's report can be found here.
Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter for Route Fifty and is based in Olympia, Washington.
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