CHARLESTON — West Virginia returned to its pre-COVID rank for the balance of payments received from the federal government according to one annual report, while another report released last week looked at federal grants to the state.

According to a report released in July by the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York, West Virginia ranked 22nd out of 50 states for the amount of federal tax dollars that have returned to the state in 2022, returning to a rank previously held in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For seven years, the Rockefeller Institute of Government has reviewed federal dollars distributed to states or generated by states. But from 2020 through 2022, the data reflects the billions of dollars states received due in part to the federal COVID response and economic recovery.

West Virginia’s balance of payments in 2022 was more than $20.1 billion when factoring in federal COVID spending. Compared to surrounding states in 2022 factoring in COVID spending, Virginia ranked first, Maryland ranked second, Kentucky ranked third, Ohio ranked fourth, and Pennsylvania ranked eighth.

West Virginia’s rank dropped to 20th when factoring out federal COVID spending, with the balance of payment dollar amount dropping to $17.4 billion in 2022. Virginia remained ranked first when factoring out COVID spending, followed by Maryland in second, Kentucky in third, Ohio in fifth, and Pennsylvania in seventh.

But West Virginia’s ranking changes when factoring in per capita balance of payments, with the state increasing in rank to sixth in 2022, or $11,332 per person when federal COVID payments are factored in. Virginia retained its first place rank, followed by Kentucky in second, Maryland ranked fifth, Ohio ranked 20th, and Pennsylvania ranked 24th. When COVID dollars are factored out, West Virginia’s federal per capita balance of payment dropped to $9,849 per person.

Looking at per capita expenditures from the federal government and receipts paid to the federal government in West Virginia in 2022, the federal government paid out $21,478 per person in direct payments primarily due to Social Security and Medicare. Federal grants amounted to $7,330 per person, followed by $2,632 per person in wages, $923 per person in contracts, and $1,803 per person from federal COVID spending.

Payments to the federal government were underwater in 2022, with -$6,178 per person in individual income tax payments, -$5,792 per person in social insurance taxes, -$1,386 per person in corporate income taxes, -$701 per person in excise taxes, and -$4 per person in other taxes.

According to the report, for every dollar sent to the federal government from West Virginia in 2022, the state received $2.43, ranking third in return on dollars. Only neighboring Kentucky ranked higher, coming in first with $2.60.

Another report released Sept. 10 by the Pew Charitable Trusts looked at how federal grants to states were contributing to inflating state budgets. In West Virginia, the percentage of state revenue from federal funds in fiscal year 2022 was 45.1%, up from 41.9% in fiscal year 2021 and below the 50-state average in 2022 of 36.4%. West Virginia ranked eighth in the nation for percentage of state revenue from federal funds only behind neighboring Kentucky.

“West Virginia received 45.1%, or $7.94 billion, of its total revenue from federal grants in fiscal 2022 – more than the 50-state share,” the report’s authors stated. “West Virginia was one of 30 states during the same period with a higher share than in the prior year.”

According to the Pew report, the percentage increase in federal funds to West Virginia between fiscal years 2019 and 2022 was 56.6%. Federal funds made up 40.1% of West Virginia’s total revenue of $22.8 billion, or about $7.4 billion. Of that amount, 63.2% came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.