Share of states' budgets from federal grants stabilizes.

• Position: News & Numbers

After the Great Recession, the share of states' revenue coming from federal grants hit a historic high of 35.5 percent in 2010, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Increased federal dollars from economic stimulus funds and reduced state tax collections meant that federal dollars made up a bigger proportion of states' revenue than at any time in at least 50 years. From 2010 to 2013, federal grants steadily declined to 30.5 percent of state revenue, the result of phasing out the stimulus funds and recovering state tax collections, but then a slight uptick in 2014 brought the figure to 30.8 percent.

The federal share rose only slightly from fiscal year 2013 to 2014 despite a significant jump in federal health grants primarily because of the...