"North Carolina leans most on federal funding"

"North Carolina ranks No. 1 in its reliance on federal funding,
...putting it in a high-risk position as spending cut talks intensify in the nation’s capital.

..federal aid in various forms made up 43.4 percent of North Carolina spending.

Missouri was second at 41.3 percent; Arizona, third at 41 percent;
and Illinois, fourth with 40 percent.

North Carolina’s 43.4 percent ratio
is well above the average of 30 percent received by states in 2010.

...if deficit reduction and corresponding spending cuts come to pass,
states hardest hit by the action would end up having to borrow more
by issuing bonds to make up the gap.

...“we believe that any federal aid cuts will represent a modest drag on state budgets,
potentially negating some of the tax revenue growth that many states are currently realizing.”

Local governments, he adds, will bear most of the brunt.

...In North Carolina, in 2010, the federal aid total was nearly $13.8 billion,
which was 43.4 percent of total state spending of $31.8 billion.

Lee Weisbecker, Triad Business Journal
8/19/11