Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

Californians sent $314 billion to the federal government last year. What did we get in return? Not much. Read what my colleague, Senator Tom Harmon, of Huntington Beach had to say about this fact:

When Arnold Schwarzenegger assumed the governorship five years ago, he promised to be a "collectinator" who would claim a larger share of federal spending for California.

Like you, I am still waiting. The federal government, not surprisingly, collects more tax money from Californians than the residents of any other state, a whopping $314 billion last year. However, when it comes to federal spending, both for direct activities and in aid to state and local governments, California is way down the lists, according to a new report issued by the Census Bureau.

Federal tax collections amount to about a fifth of Californians' personal income and almost 12 percent of $2.7 trillion in federal revenues, which pretty much matches the state's share of the national population. In fact, California's per-capita federal tax burden, $8,590, is almost identical to the national average.

Although California led other states in total federal spending for its civilian employees and in non-defense procurement contracts in 2007, the Census Bureau says it was 44th among the states in per-capita spending at under $8,000, and well below average in per-capita aid to state and local governments, under $1,500.

Virginia, home to many federal agencies, was tops in direct per-capita spending at over $14,000, thanks to its proximity to Washington D.C. and its leading position in defense procurement contracts. California used to rank very high in that category, but saw defense spending in the state plummet to a fraction of its former level after the end of the Cold War.

Wyoming, meanwhile, was tops in per-capita aid to state and local governments at more than $3,500, more than twice California's level.

The new Census Bureau report - actually a collection of reports - is available here while a state-by-state rundown on federal taxes is accessible here.