The Dangers of Federal Cuts for Louisiana’s State Government

Since President Donald Trump founded the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, there has been a lot of public outcry and worry about what government services might be cut. One worry is that federal aid that state governments rely on might be cut in the pursuit of government efficiency. New reporting shows us how dependent the state of Louisiana is on federal funding, raising possible concerns that cuts could harm the state.

State Services: Built on Federal Aid?

State governments do a lot more than you might realize, education, healthcare, welfare, public safety, and law enforcement, are just some examples of things that each state government has a hand in. But it's not just the government of a state that relies on federal money, some people's entire income comes from a federal job. A new report from WalletHub shows us how reliant residents of Louisiana are on federal jobs, on top of how reliant the state government is on Federal funds to carry out daily operations.

Louisiana's Federal Paradox: Residents vs. State

Of all 50 states, Louisiana is somewhere in the middle when it comes to how reliant its residents are on federal funds. Only ranked as the 23rd most dependent state for residents, as of 2023, Louisiana had about 32,000 federal employees.

When it comes to how reliant the state government of Louisiana is on federal funding the story is very different. Louisiana is the most federally dependant state government. According to the US Census Bureau in 2022 the State Government of Louisiana was funded 36.6% by federal transfers, 10.1% higher than the average across the country in the same year.