Grants-in-Aid
GRANTS-IN-AID
GRANTS-IN-AID. A general term for money given to state or local governments by Congress. In many cases, grants are earmarked for specific purposes (these are called categorical grants). The federal government uses grants-in-aid to induce states and cities to fund programs they show little interest in or cannot afford. The first grants (1862) were land grants to states for public universities. During the New Deal, impoverished cities received federal money for a variety of initiatives (public housing and unemployment insurance, for example). Since World War II, the practice has grown increasingly common. In the late-1990s, Congress appropriated more than $200 billion annually (about 15 percent of federal spending) for grants-in-aid.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, Lawrence D., James W. Fossett, and Kenneth T. Palmer. The Changing Politics of Federal Grants. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1984.
JeremyDerfner
