Public officialdom in Virginia has been increasingly focused on Virginia’s heavy dependence upon the federal government for economic activity and employment. As the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission pointed out in its “Review of State Spending: 2011 Update,” Virginia ranked second among the states in total federal spending per capita.
In federal FY 2009 the federal government spent $155.6 billion in Virginia (up from $118.5 billion the previous year). “The largest share of federal spending in Virginia ($82 billion or 47%), states the report, “was for procurement of goods and services, including services provided by federal contractors based in Virginia. When federal spending starts declining, as inevitably it will, there goes the ol’ economic base.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Virginia’s state budget is less dependent upon federal grants. States the JLARC report: “Since federal FY 1995, Virginia has ranked between 47th and 50th among the states in terms of per capita receipt of federal grant awards. In FY 2009, Virginia ranked 49th.”
Forty-ninth is pretty good, although I say we should aim for dead last.
— JAB