OHIO Survey: Local districts get the least funding

Most federal money distributed is for entitlement programs, the study showed.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- No congressional districts in Ohio received less federal money in 1999 than those represented by U.S. Reps. Sherrod Brown and James A. Traficant Jr., according to a survey conducted by a nonpartisan public policy organization.
The Center for National Policy of Washington, D.C., released its review of federal money given to Ohio, Illinois and Michigan by congressional district in 1999.
The money includes payments for Social Security, Medicare (federal health program for seniors and certain people with disabilities) and Medicaid (federal health program for the poor). Those three entitlement programs make up about 55 percent to 75 percent of the federal money given to Ohio.
What areas received: The study showed that Brown's 13th District, which includes western Trumbull County, received the lowest amount of federal funding of any district in the state. The district, represented by the Lorain Democrat, received $1.99 billion, about 66 percent of it from the three large entitlement programs.
Traficant's 17th District, which includes all of Mahoning and Columbiana counties and most of Trumbull, received $2.17 billion, about 72 percent of it from the three large entitlement programs.
"It appears formula programs, which make up a very large percentage of federal money given to a district, made the difference in this study," said Charles Straub, spokesman for Traficant, a Poland Democrat. "Members don't have as much control over formula money as compared to discretionary programs."
John Green, director of the University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, agreed.
How it's determined: "The great bulk of federal money is determined by formulas created politically, but they are, with rare exceptions, not manipulated politically," he said. "Over the last 100 years, federal funding has become much more formula driven and much less discretionary. The room for pork-barrel spending and the room for influence by members of Congress has declined substantially over that period."
Traficant's district is in the middle of the pack when it comes to dollars for the three large entitlement programs, but lags behind in most other categories.
For example, the 17th District received $82,285 for conservation and land management while some districts in the state received more than $7 million for that. The 17th received $3.62 million for area and regional development while others got more than $20 million for that. The 17th received $47.82 million for disaster relief insurance while other districts got more than $200 million for that.
The 17th District did lead the state in one category, receiving $17.12 million in federal funding for air transportation.
Brown's district was in the bottom half of several categories. The 13th District led the state in only one category: $28.44 million for the advancement of commerce, more than twice the amount given to the 17th District for that same category.
Possible reasons: Ted Miller, Brown's spokesman, did not have a definitive answer for why the 13th District is at the bottom. But he said the district being the most affluent in the state and being primarily suburban and thus not needing as much federal financial assistance as poorer and more urban areas were probably the primary reasons.
The study showed that influence and power of congressmen do not play significant factors in obtaining federal dollars for their home districts. For example, House Speaker Dennis Hastert's district ranked 16th among Illinois' 20 congressional districts.
Traficant's "district ranking doesn't reflect a lack of influence in any way," Straub said. "The larger urban areas receive the most funding. The study shows that Appropriations Committee seats or leadership positions are fairly irrelevant."
Traficant brought in an average of $66 million annually to his district during the 1990s in federal funds over and above formula money, he said.
The top congressional district in Ohio for federal funding is the 1st District, a southern portion of Cincinnati represented by Republican Steve Chabot. That district took in $3.47 billion in 1999, about $1.3 billion more than Traficant's district.