This study critically examines the measurement of the Comprehesive Employment and Training Act's key allocation variable, unemployment. The analysis indicates (1) unemployment rates are higher than government estimates and (2) methods used to measure state and local umemployment have several weaknesses. (Author/RLV)

Federal block grants, in contrast to categorical programs and revenue sharing, allow states and localities considerable flexibility in meeting needs within broad functional areas; but, they are also designed to assure that funds are spent to pursue national objectives. Before 1981, block grants included varying levels of recipient accountability…

Discusses public library revenues as a reflection of the general economic cycle during the 1980s. Public library expenditures and total local government expenditures from 1966 to 1990 are examined; percentage increases in library spending are compared with other specific city and county expenditures; and academic versus public library funding is…

Background information and an analysis of issues involved in the funding of a network of new regional educational laboratories are presented. The new laboratories are to be established through a 1984 competition administered by the National Institute of Education (NIE). The information is designed to assist the Study Group on Regional Laboratories…

The impact of and justification for using federal grants to carry out national policies in education is explored in this document. The paper opens by noting that the locally-made decisions typical of our federal system of government do not always take into account such national interests as those in increasing equality of opportunity, providing…

Eight years of school finance under New Jersey governor Brendan Byrne is analyzed. The author suggests the new governor will face the same problems Byrne faced eight years ago: a legal challenge to the state's system of funding schools, and a large hole in the state budget. (KC)

This paper discusses the effects of President Reagan's budget cuts on federally supported human service programs in New York. Various programs are analyzed to determine their vulnerability to budget reductions. It is suggested that employment, nutrition and health programs are most likely to be cut while education, adoption assistance, senior…

The need for a new approach to federal support of education by reducing the number of narrow categorical aid programs is developed through a case study of the 1976 Ford Administration proposal for a consolidated block grant of 24 separate authorities. The merits of block grant funding are examined both in terms of the administration-sponsored bill…

Empirical literature on the effects of intergovernmental grants on educational spending is reviewed in this document, which examines 40 published works covering the last two decades. Intergovernmental grants include both state grants to local governments and federal grants to state and local governments. The review's first section summarizes…

New directions in federal educational policy in the 1980s have had clear and consistent implications for state education finance systems. This study reviews the financing arrangements that have emerged during the 1980s at the state level, discusses the costs of new legislative mandates and state programs, and assesses the extent to which federal…

Eight papers from a one-day conference for lawyers, judges, and policy-makers discuss the effects on intergovernmental relations of the emerging body of laws, regulations, and court decisions governing federal grants and their recipients. The expanding importance of federal grants, notes an introduction to the papers, has meant both less leeway…

A shrinkage of one-half or more in available federal funds designated for human services is expected to occur in the next five years. Despite this outlook, federal funds are available for increases in human services, provided that such services are organized into related systems of services and are planned and managed as such. This essay on…