Impact of Eliminating the States From the General Revenue Sharing Program--A Nine-State Assessment

With the authorization for the Revenue Sharing Program due to expire on September 30, 1980, Congress is considering the question of extending, altering, or terminating the program. To assist Congress in considering the issue, GAO visited nine states to assess the potential impact of eliminating state governments from the program. The following states were selected with a view to obtaining geographic dispersion and a good mix of such variables as the amount of revenue sharing money received, aid provided to local governments, surpluses, and fiscal stress: Arkansas, California, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. During calendar year 1979, these states received 31 percent of the total revenue sharing payments made to the 50 states. In fiscal year 1978, revenue sharing payments to the nine states, as percentages of each state's total revenues, ranged from 0.8 to 1.8 percent.