(The Center Square) – Wisconsin receives less in federal funding per capita than the average state, receiving $14,678 per person in the most recently available numbers from 2022 compared to an average $16,606 in the country, according to a new report from Wisconsin Policy Forum.
The report says the group took on the topic with the proposal of federal funding cuts.
Wisconsin residents and businesses paid in $71 billion in federal taxes during the 2022 fiscal year with $37 billion in federal individual income taxes, $25.4 billion in payroll taxes funding social insurance programs such as Social Security, and $6.7 billion in corporate income taxes.
Meanwhile, the state’s residents, businesses, nonprofits and local governments received nearly $86.5 billion in federal funds, more than $15 billion above the amount contributed.
That balance of payments amounted to $2,679 per Wisconsin resident, less than the overall U.S. average of $2,889.
“Federal spending still has an enormous effect in both Wisconsin and every other state,” the report said. “Admittedly, this impact may not be immediately and outwardly visible in some communities, especially smaller ones where the federal government has relatively few buildings or staff present. Yet its size and sweep are vast.”
Federal spending in Wisconsin was equal to 23.7% of total personal income in the state, a figure that includes wages, salaries, interest, dividends and transfer receipts paid from government assistance programs.
The federal programs discussed seeing funding cuts that could directly impact Wisconsin residents include Social Security, Medicare and SNAP along with cuts to the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services said that the state could potentially lose $314 million in SNAP benefits.
Wisconsin’s director of Medicaid has said that more than 60,000 people will lose health care coverage in the state if a proposed reconciliation package is not changed.
