Business Subsidies throughout the US

The New York Times compiled a database of incentives granted by cities, counties, and states to businesses.  Across the country, various levels of government granted $80.4 billion across 1,874 programs created to promote business.  The state with the highest percentage of business incentives per dollar in the state budget was Texas, with $0.51 for every dollar going to business incentives.  The states with the largest spending per capita were Alaska, West Virginia, and Nebraska (with $991, $845, $763 per capita respectively -- Texas ranked close with $759 per capita).

In addition, this resource lists the programs that each states employ and the companies that receive the most from these programs (to begin by looking at Texas, click here).  The New York Times also compiled a list of the 48 companies that gained more than $100 million since 2007 due to these programs; companies that topped the list of 48 were GM, Shell, and Ford, although some 5,000 more companies received more than $1 million in grants in the same time frame.

Assets of State and Local Pensions Recover to Pre-Recession Levels

The Census Bureau's report on the status of state and local government pensions shows that pension assets have recovered to levels seen in 2007.  In 2011, the holdings and investments of these pensions totaled $2.5 trillion.  These pension systems maintain large investments in financial markets; consequently, the funds' successes and failures are largely dependent on market performance.  Thus, just as the stock market suffered a substantial setback from 2008 to 2009, state and local pension funds experienced a similar loss and bounceback.  In 2011, earnings on investments were $410.6 billion, 2.3% higher than in 2007, and much improved on the $71.7 billion and $511.5 billion losses in 2008 and 2009 respectively.  California's pension system is the largest of any state with over $433 billion in assets, over 8 times the holdings and investments of the average state's pension system.