Special Analysis 14-01
February 28, 2014
Summary 


Many states are seeking ways to assess how they fare in their fiscal relationship with the federal government and strengthen their efforts to maximize federal dollars. A handful of states have set up centralized grant offices to measure their progress and identify new funding opportunities. Others are evaluating whether to do so or have decided to track and monitor federal funds through existing structures.

There are a number of ways to evaluate federal spending. To give states a sense of their standing, the table below shows per capita federal spending for grants tracked by FFIS. While FFIS does not track every grant dollar going to state and local governments, it captures more than 90% of the total. This Special Analysis examines existing data sources and identifies steps to maximizing federal grants.