One Size Fits All? A Study On State Professionalism And Election Security Grant Expenditures

Abstract

Currently, the United States pursues a “one size fits all” policy for federal grants to states by conflating their legislative capacity. This may not be effective: many states have differing levels of professionalization measured by frequency of sessions, staffing resources for legislatures, and pay. This study examines state expenditures of grant funding made available through the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Variations in state expenditures potentially illustrate how professionalism affects state spending on election security. The study finds that more professional state legislatures tend to spend more on election security regardless of political affiliation. The effect of professionalism on election expenditure is more pronounced when the Federal Government increases requirements on state legislatures during the application process. While this study is focused on grants geared towards election expenditures, it could have broad applications for how the Federal Government incentivizes states to spend money on national initiatives.