_areas which contain large military-relqted industries and bases. For ex;ample, j'ust five non-rural congression-, al districts-Newport News, Norfolk, Fort Worth, and two in St. Louis-each receive between one-and-a-half and two-and~a-half billion dollars more than their citizens and corporations pay out in federal taxes. These 1 five districts alone absorb more than the $8.5 billion that the rural congressional,districts lost in 1983. Fifty-one rural congressional districts, many of which are poor and underdeveloped, are being drained of their resources in order to fund military contracts and programs in just four urban an~ suburban areas. As Table 2 shows, rural congressional districts in the Midwest fare the worstr with 90% of them suffering net losses, compared with70% of western districts. · Interestingly, the flow of tax dollars out of rural congressional di·strics is not significantly related to the party affiliations of their congressional representatives-:- Democratic districts fare only slightly better than Republican (Table 3). If current federal spending priorities continue-and there is little evidence'that they will not-the fifty-one net-loss rural congressional districts will carry an even greater tax burden in the future. In just three years, 1980-83, their net losses have increased by a third, and the rate of loss is increasing. .What are the implications of this accelerating drain of rural tax dollars? First, it contributes to the decline of local health, social welfare, and education programs. When their own tax dollars are not returned to these rural congressional districts, local officials are forced to devise ways of compensating for these losses or to cut needed programs and services. In almost every instance, it is easier to cut programs than to locate alternative sources of funds. Second, with the loss'of local tax dollars to other TABLE2 Net Loss, Rural Congressional Districts, by Region, 1983 Percent Northeast 75.0 Midwest 89.5 South 75.0 West 70.0 Total 78.5 TABLE3 Net Loss, Rural Congressional Districts, by Party Affiliation of Representative Republican Democrat Percent 82.6 76.2 No. 6 17 21 7 51 No. 23 19 January/February 1985 RAIN Page 5 congressional districts, capital is unavailable for local self-help projects, and rural economic development· programs go unfunded. A detailed study of one impoverished, largely rural county revealed that less than onehalf of one percent of all of its federal tax dollars came back to the county to support economic development programs. With the loss of local tax dollars to oth~r congressional districts, capital is unavailable for local self-help projects/ and rural economic development programs go unfunded. Third, critical rural infrastructures-bridges, roads, and highways-are inadequately maintained and left unimproved because of the lack of local funds. Clearly, federal policies are having a severe and growing impact on the nation's rural congressional districts, and much of this is the result of economic imbalances created by military'spending policies. Rural communities cannot afford to lose their limited resources, and congressional represent~tives who fail to recognize the profound and perhaps irreversible consequences of the tax dollar drain on their districts need to be made accountable by their' constituents. D D , Notes The methodology employed in this study was developed by James R. Anderson, in Bankrupting America, available from Employment Research Assodates, 400 South Washington, Lansing, MI 48933, for $3. A detailed analysis of the effects of federal spending on one near-rural county is found in Down the Federal Drqin: The Impaet of Military Spending on Mendocino County, by Don Lipmanson and J. David Colfax, available · . from Save Our Local Economy, Box 246, Boonville, CA 95415, for $2. ' . · I am grateful to George Rucker, Research Director of . Rural America, for providing me with information on "Heavily Rural Districts," which are defined as those in which a majority of the voting age population lives in nonmetropolitan areas and outside of cities of10,000 or more. Classification is based on 1980 Census data. /. Davzd Colfax is a consultant and free-lance writer, and · the co-author of the "Save Our Local Econpmy" Initiative which appeared on the Mendocino County ballot in November. © 1984 f. David Colfax
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