A smaller percentage of the state budget is funded by the federal government in Arkansas than in its neighboring states, according to a report from the Tax Foundation.
The report, which is based on Census Bureau data from fiscal 2012, shows that 34.5 percent of Arkansas' general revenue comes from federal funding, ranking it 24th among the 50 states.
Four of the states where federal funding makes up the biggest portion of their general revenues are Arkansas' neighbors -- Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Missouri. In each of those states, federal funding exceeds 40 percent of state general revenue.
But finance officials say it's hard to tell what accounts for the difference.
"There's a number of factors," said James Nunnley, assistant administrator for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. "Since it's a percentage, it depends on what that state brings in, in terms of general revenue."
Two factors appear to explain some of the reasons: a state's Medicaid funding and its population.
According to the census data, Arkansas made just over $17 billion in general revenue in fiscal 2012, while Tennessee, which ranks number four on the list, received more than $27 billion, and Louisiana, number two, got more than $25 billion.
Arkansas and Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage of its general revenue from federal funding, made about the same in general revenue, with each state receiving just over $17 billion in fiscal 2012, according to the census data.
In that year, $8 billion of Mississippi's general revenue came from federal aid while a little less than $6 billion of Arkansas' general revenue came from the federal government, according to the Census Bureau.
Brandon Sharp, Arkansas' budget administrator, said the differences in how much states get from the federal government is mostly due to Medicaid, a health care program for low-income people.
Each state receives a different amount of money for Medicaid based on the state's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage. The percentage is calculated based on state income.
According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Mississippi historically has been the poorest state and has always received the highest Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.
In fiscal 2012, Arkansas appropriated $3.7 billion in federal aid for its Department of Human Services for a category that includes Medicaid.
That year, Mississippi received $3.5 billion for Medicaid alone, with an extra $1 billion allocated for other human services programs.
States' federal funding is also affected by whether they experience natural disasters that require federal assistance.
Megan Parrish, spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Administration, said Louisiana has gotten a lot more federal aid in recent years due to hurricane damage.
"There's a lot of federal dollars that we've got for disaster recovery, so the last few years probably aren't very representative," she said.
Other factors, such as a state's population, also come into play, Sharp said.
Arkansas has a population of about 2.9 million, according to the Census Bureau, while Tennessee and Louisiana have larger populations of about 6.5 million and 4.6 million, respectively. Mississippi has a population of almost 3 million.
"If you're just comparing what one state gets versus another state, you'd have to take their population into consideration," Sharp said.
The Census Bureau does not calculate revenue the same way that states do. On the state level, general revenue does not include federal dollars at all.
"When you talk about general revenue, those are tax revenues," Sharp said. "In terms of general revenue, we generate about $6 billion a year. When you talk about all sources combined, it's closer to $20 billion."
The Census Bureau's designation of general revenue does include federal funds and money that doesn't necessarily come through state government.
"In the Census Bureau data, we include agencies that we would consider to be dependent or subordinate parts of the state government," said Joe Dalaker, a statistician in the governments division of the Census Bureau. "The data we produce are intended to be a complete description of public sector activities."
The bureau also estimates states' federal funding differently.
While census data indicate that Arkansas received $5.9 billion of general revenue from federal funding in fiscal 2012, the State Expenditures and Financial Awards report shows that the state received about $8.5 billion.
Dalaker said the data don't say much about how good or bad a state is doing.
"You really can't take a look at our data and get a sense of the fiscal health of a government," Dalaker said. "Our single year of data only took place at the time of that fiscal year."
Metro on 07/06/2014