Saving Federalism Data Notes

• Fiscal Years: Figures using data collected from State of Missouri sources use the state’s fiscal year (July 1 –June 30). The figures showing total federal spending on grants and the total number of grants are collected from federal sources, meaning that they use the federal fiscal year that runs from October 1 to September 30.

• Comparisons: Comparing twelve years of state budget data at the division level required making some assumptions because state departments and divisions have experienced multiple restructurings over the years. Whenever possible, efforts were made to maximize the number of comparisons that could be made. Below are some examples of the assumptions made.

  • Fund Types: Missouri’s spending data is separated into three fund types: General Revenue, Federal funds, and Other funds, as reported by the departments in each year’s executive budget, except in a few cases. In FY 2011 and FY 2012, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education classified the General Transfers that go into public school aid as Other Funds, but for the remaining years those funds were counted as General Revenue. For this case, I changed the classification of the FY 2011 and FY 2012 funding to General Revenue so that they could be compared to FY 2013 to FY 2022.

  • Renaming: Over time many state divisions have changed names and purposes. To the extent possible, as long as there wasn’t an obvious shift in responsibilities, I kept the divisions together to allow for comparison. For example, Linn State Technical College changed its name to the State Technical College of Missouri.

  • Fund Deposits: The spending totals by fund type used in this project are taken from the Missouri Executive Budget, but that doesn’t mean the totals match every state source, or even the definitions for the fund types. For example, in FYs 2011, 2019, 2020, and 2021, total state spending from the executive budget doesn’t match the total spending as reported by the House of Representatives in the yearly Budget Fast Facts. Additionally, if you use the Missouri Accountability Portal, you will not be able to match up the federal spending with the federal grants received as shown there. One reason is that some departments don’t appear to participate in reporting their grants on the portal. Another is that some departments appear to classify their federal grants not as federal spending, but occasionally as Other Fund spending, presumably because the grants came with a specified purpose for their use.

  • Total State Medicaid: Medicaid is Missouri’s largest government-run program, and spans four executive departments: the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Health and Senior Services, and the Department of Social Services. The program also changed dramatically between FY 2011 and FY 2022. Total State Medicaid is how Missouri measures the entire cost of the program across state government, but the comparison across the period of this project is not perfect. Whenever possible, totals encompassing actual expenditures from all executive departments were included, but when those data were not available, the appropriated amounts were used.

Unless otherwise noted, all data used in this report have been adjusted for inflation.

About the Author

    

Elias Tsapelas earned his Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Missouri in 2016. Before joining the Show-Me Institute he worked for the State of Missouri’s Department of Economic Development and Office of Administration, Division of Budget & Planning. His research interests include economic development, health policy, and budget-related issues.