United States
Since the 1970s, the United States government has provided large sums of money through block grants, under a policy that has come to be known as "devolutionary" or "new federalism." Block grants replaced the previous policy of revenue sharing (1972–87).
According to the General Accounting Office, from 1980 to 2001 the number of federal block grant programs went from 450 to 700. The grants are aimed at a wide range of activities from education to healthcare, transportation, housing and counterterrorism.
In the United States, the formulas for how much money states receive favors small states. Most grant programs have a minimum amount per state, usually 0.5% or 0.75% of the total money given to states in the program.
For instance, in 2003, under the State Homeland Security Grant Programs and Critical Infrastructure Protection Grants, Wyoming, the least populous state, received $17.5 million and California, the most populous state, received $164 million. In fiscal year 2004 Wyoming is guaranteed to receive a minimum of $15 million and California, the most populated state, $133 million. Wyoming receives $35.3 per person and California receives $4.7 per person.
Similar patterns exist for other block grant formulas. An analysis exists in the book Sizing Up the Senate.
Read more about this topic: Block Grant
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