State Economic Development Program Expenditures: FY2014-FY2016 Update

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The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) has updated its State Economic Development Program Expenditures Database as part of a continuous effort to track investments in economic development across all fifty states. The database now includes all Governor Recommended Budgets for fiscal year 2016. Read the full report on this update here.

Expenditures14

According to the Database, in FY2016 U.S. states are collectively proposing to spend $6.97 billion on economic development investments, representing a slight dip from FY2015 spending levels. In FY2015, states appropriated $7.05 billion for economic development, which was a 7 percent increase over actual economic development spending of $6.65 billion in FY14.

ExpendituresFunc14Between FY2014 and FY2016, there were significant overall funding increases for workforce preparation and development, business assistance, and technology transfer activities. Community assistance, tourism and film, and business finance funding levels were fairly consistent, while special industry assistance experienced an overall drop in funding.

Based on the FY2016 expenditures data, here are a few highlights from various state budgets:

  • Between FY 2014 and FY 2015, Texas reduced funding for the Texas Enterprise Fund from $120M to less than $500K.
  • Maryland launched notable programs targeting entrepreneurship and innovation, including the CyberMaryland Investment Tax Credit, CyberMaryland Investment Fund, and Maryland E-nnovation Initiative.
  • In FY 2016, Oregon proposed a 75% increase in funding for its unmanned aerial systems center, while New Mexico more than doubled funding for its Spaceport Authority between FY2014 and FY 2015.

For more highlights, please see the brief report linked above. C2ER members can access the database through the C2ER member area. For more information about the database, please contact C2ER at info@c2er.org.