Fiscal Federalism Glossary

Individuals

  • Social Security—These benefits (old-age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits) consist mainly of monthly benefits received by retired and disabled workers, dependents, and survivors and lump-sum payments received by survivors.  The estimates are based on Social Security Administration tabulations of the amount of monthly benefits paid to those in current-payment status on December 31 by county of residence of the beneficiaries.  www.bea.gov
  • Medicare—These benefits are federal government payments made through intermediaries to beneficiaries for the care provided to individuals under the provisions of the Medicare program.  www.bea.gov
  • Medicaid and Other Health—Cost amounts for Dental, Pharmacy, and TennCare Select are based on claims from invoice tables with paid date in (month) 2022.  These claims may have been incurred at any time in or before that month 2022.  The county information is based on the most recent county information for the recipient associated with each claim or capitation payment.  Reports include some membership additions that are the result of retroactivity; however, additional retroactivity may still occur.  The "other" county category reflects recipients who are Tennessee residents for which their domicile is temporarily located outside of the state.  www.tn.gov/tenncare
  • Veterans benefits—veterans' benefits include veterans' pension and disability benefits, veterans' readjustment benefits, veterans' life insurance benefits, and other assistance to veterans.  www.bea.gov
    • Number of veterans—Veteran population estimates, as of September 30, 2022, are produced by the VA Predictive Analytics and Actuary Service (VetPop 2020).
  • SNAP—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—These benefits, under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly called food stamps), are issued to qualifying low-income individuals to supplement their ability to purchase food.  Eligibility is determined by each state's interpretation of federal regulations; the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) pays the cost of the benefits.  The state estimates are based on tabulations of the value of the distributed benefits from the Department of Agriculture.  The state estimates are allocated to counties based on payments data from the various state departments of social services.  When payment data are not available, data on the number of SNAP recipients from Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program are used to extrapolate or interpolate.  www.bea.gov
  • Education and training assistance other than K12—Education and training assistance consists of the following:
    •  Federal fellowships—These benefits consist of the payments to outstanding science students who receive National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, the subsistence payments to the cadets at the six state maritime academies, and the payments for all other Federal fellowships;
    •  Higher education student assistance—These benefits consist of the Federal payments, called Pell Grants, for an undergraduate education for students with low incomes;
    •  Job Corps payments—these benefits are primarily the allowances for living expenses received by economically disadvantaged individuals who are between the ages of 16 and 21 and who are enrolled in the designated vocational and educational training programs. These benefits also include the adjustment allowances received by trainees upon the successful completion of their training;
    •  Interest payments on guaranteed student loans—these payments are made by the Department of Education to commercial lending institutions on behalf of the individuals who receive low-interest, deferred-payment loans from these institutions in order to pay the expenses of higher education;
    •  State educational assistance—These benefits consist of educational assistance provided by states to individuals for tuition and other educational expenses not including loans.
    • The national and state estimates are based on data for state government expenditures for "other education assistance and subsidies" from the Census Bureau's annual State Government Finances.  www.bea.gov
  • Supplemental Security Income - These benefits are received by low-income persons who are aged, blind, or disabled from both the federal government and state governments.  The state estimates are based on Social Security Administration (SSA) tabulations of annual disbursements for two categories of SSI benefits: Basic federal payments and supplemental state payments.  Both estimates are based on data that are published in the "Annual Statistical Supplement" to the Social Security Bulletin.  The county estimates of the combined categories are based on payments data from the SSA.  www.bea.gov
  • Other Federal Assistance—Other transfer receipts of individuals from governments consist largely of other refundable tax credits; Bureau of Indian Affairs payments; Alaska Permanent Fund dividend payments; compensation of survivors of public safety officers; compensation of victims of crime; disaster relief payments; supplemental payments to UMW health benefits; compensation for Japanese internment; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funded Federal Additional Compensation for unemployment, COBRA premium reduction; Economic Recovery lump sum payment; ACA cost sharing reduction; Lost Wages Assistance; and other special payments to individuals.  www.bea.gov

Intergovernmental Grants

K12 Education

  • Title I- Low income—”Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) provides financial assistance to local educational agencies for children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.”  For more information, visit Fast Facts: Title I (158) (ed.gov)
  • Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA)—“The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.”  For more information, visit About IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
  • Vocational—“Under Title I (Basic State Grants) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. . . . Congress appropriates roughly $1.3 billion annually in State formula grants for the development and implementation of career and technical education (CTE) programs.”  For more information, visit Career and Technical Education--Title I (Basic Grants to States)
  • Title II—“The purpose of this title is to provide grants to State educational agencies and subgrants to local educational agencies to – (1) increase student achievement consistent with challenging State academic standards; (2) improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school leaders; (3) increase the number of teachers, principals, and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievement in schools; and (4) provide low-income and minority students greater access to effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders.” (SEC. 2001. [20 U.S.C. 6601])
  • Title IV- 21st Century Schools—“Title IV is composed of two large block grant programs as well as discretionary grant and assistance programs meant to support the comprehensive needs of students in a variety of settings, strengthen family engagement, and bring America’s schools into the 21st century.” For more information, visit Title IV—21st Century Schools | NASSP
  • Adult Education—“The program provides grants to states to fund local programs of adult education and literacy services, including workplace literacy services; family literacy services; English literacy programs and integrated English literacy-civics education programs. Participation in these programs is limited to adults and out-of-school youths age 16 and older who are not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under state law.”  For more information, visit Adult Education--Basic Grants to States
  • Title III—Language Instruction—“The purpose of Title III is to help ensure that English learners, including immigrant children and youth, attain English proficiency and develop high levels of academic achievement and assist teachers, administrators, and other school leaders, in developing and enhancing their capacity to provide effective instructional programs.”  For more information, visit Title III—Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students | NASSP
  • Title V—Innovative Programs—“a state administered formula grant program designed to improve student academic achievement and the quality of education for all students.”  For more information, visit Innovative Programs - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education