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Archived Project

Fiscal Federalism Initiative

Fiscal federalism is an archived project. For more information about Pew’s work on the intersection of federal and state fiscal policies, please visit Managing Fiscal Risks.

Almost all changes to federal policy affect state revenue, economies, and residents. The Pew Charitable Trusts examines the intersection of federal and state fiscal policies among several different areas, including:

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Pandemic Aid: States Safeguarded Against Budget Challenges

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The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by Congress in 2021 provided a historic influx of federal funding to help the nation respond to the dual economic and public health crises that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Wildfires: Burning Through State Budgets

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Wildfires in the United States have become more catastrophic and expensive in recent years, with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service nearly doubling their combined spending on wildfire management in the last decade. Wildfire management consists of preparing for, fighting, recovering from, and reducing the risk of fires. To execute these activities, states, localities, the federal government, and Tribes, as well as nongovernment entities such as nonprofit organizations and private property owners, participate in a complex system of responsibilities and funding dictated by land ownership and an interconnected set of cooperative agreements.

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