By Jonathan Reid | Cronkite News Service
Almost half of Arizona’s general revenues came from federal funds in fiscal 2011, the third-highest share in the nation, according to a recent report from the Tax Foundation.
The late-June report said that 45.7 percent of Arizona’s general revenue came from federal aid, lower than only Mississippi and Louisiana, and well above the national average of 36 percent.
But some analysts called the high percentage misleading because it does not take into account the state’s relatively low taxes and spending. Arizona didn’t get more than other states, they said, it just got more in relation to what it spent.