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Florida uses the federal government like a sugar daddy. The Sunshine State leads the other 49 in both the total amount of money and the money-per-capita it received from the feds in 2011. That doesn’t even include that high-speed train we didn’t get.
According to a CNBC analysis, Florida received $577.80 billion total from the federal government last year, which works out to about $30,318 per person.
The money includes both funds doled out to government agencies and contractors, as well as money paid through entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and unemployment benefits. Which makes sense considering Florida’s large retired population, and our higher-than-average unemployment rate.
Florida also received several grants from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees everything from airport security to FEMA.
On the per-capita level, Louisiana came in second with $30,115 per person. After that it was a giant drop off, with South Carolina coming in third with only $16,467 per person.
In overall funds, Texas came in second with $294 billion overall. That’s almost half of what Florida received, and almost a third per person.
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