Utah ranks 49th in receipt of federal spending

Tea partyers, 9/12ers and other Utah conservatives argue that Utah should stop taking federal spending earmarks — and even helped unseat Sen. Bob Bennett in the GOP primary this year largely because he championed them.

But a Census Bureau study released shows Utah ranked second to last in 2009 for the amount per capita that the federal government spends within its borders — for such things as grants, procurement, salaries for local federal employees, disability payments and retirement benefits.

In short, Utah was already doing largely what such conservatives wanted. In fact, Utah doesn't take much, relatively, from the federal government at all.

An annual report by the census looks at federal spending in the states during 2009. It found that the federal government spent $7,435 per person in Utah. That is 28 percent lower than the national average of $10,395 spent per person in identifiable spending in states.The only state lower than Utah was Nevada, where the federal government spent $7,148 per person. On the other end of the spectrum, Alaska received the most per person: $20,351, nearly three times more than Utah. It was followed by Virginia ($19,734 per person) and Hawaii (19,001 per person).

Utah actually ranked last among the states for the amount paid per capita for federal retirement and disability, and other direct payments. That is likely because it has the youngest average age among the states because of its high birth rate and large family sizes, meaning the percentage of its population that has retired is relatively small. Utah ranked 46th among the states for per capita spending from federal grants. But it ranked 25th for per capita expenditures from federal purchases, and 19th for per capita spending on salaries and wages for federal employees.

The report said that the federal government spent $20.7 billion in Utah in 2009. Of that, $5.8 billion went for retirement and disability payments; $4.9 billion came from grants; $3.6 billion came from procurement; $3.5 billion from other direct payments; and $2.8 billion from salaries and wages for federal workers. The Census Bureau reported that the counties where most of that was spent were: Salt Lake County, $8 billion; Davis, $2.8 billion; Weber, $1.8 billion; Utah County, $1.7 billion; and Box Elder, $1 million. The Deseret News

Note: The full report can be found at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/cffr-09.pdf