CA spends more than other states

capitolFrontHow does California government spending, state and local, compare to that of other states? On average, it’s more.

That’s according to a new study by the U.S. Census Bureau, “State Government Finances Summary: 2013. Economy-Wide Statistics Briefs: Public Sector.”

According to the summary by Dan Walters, “California contains 12.2 percent of the nation’s population but its state government accounted for 13.8 percent of all state spending in the 2012-13 fiscal year.”

Of course, California is an extremely expensive state. So the higher spending might be justified to pay for higher salaries for government workers.

Except a previous Census Bureau study found California has the nation’s highest poverty rate. So one reason non-government workers are so poor is their salaries are drained to support an above-average size of state and local government.



John Seiler

John Seiler

John Seiler has been writing about California for 25 years. That includes 22 years as an editorial writer for the Orange County Register and two years for CalWatchDog.com, where he is managing editor. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated from Hillsdale College. He was a Russian linguist in U.S. Army military intelligence from 1978 to 1982. He was an editor and writer for Phillips Publishing Company from 1983 to 1986. He has written for Policy Review, Chronicles, LewRockwell.com, Flash Report and numerous other publications. His email: [email protected]

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