Federal dollars land in black districts

Chicago Reporter, The, Feb, 2002 by Pamela A. Lewis

Black congressional districts in the Chicago metropolitan area brought in an average of nearly $1 billion more in 1999 federal spending than their white counterparts, much of it in programs such as housing and food assistance, shows The Chicago Reporter's analysis of a unique report on federal spending.

In the six-county area's 12 districts, the federal government spent more than $30 billion in 1999, according to "What Government Does," released in October by the Center for National Policy, a Washington D.C.-based public policy organization chaired by former White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta. The report includes a database detailing federal spending on a district-by-district basis for three states, including Illinois. The group plans to eventually expand the database to include all 50 states.

Spokesmen for the area's congressmen said they were not surprised by the Reporter's findings, but noted that federal spending depends on numerous variables in the districts, including the age and poverty rate of residents.

"It's a matter of where the private sector meets these basic needs and where it doesn't--and where it doesn't, the government has to meet those needs," said. Frank Watkins, press secretary for Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.

Jackson's 2nd District, which includes parts of the city's South Side and south suburbs, has a poverty rate of 14 percent and received $2.5 billion in overall spending, sixth in the area.

And most congressmen aren't aware of all the money awarded to their districts because federal spending is difficult to track, according to the spokesmen.

"Unless a specific community has come to the congressman's office to say, 'Hey, we put in for this grant, can you help us?' -- most of the time that kind of flow of money from Washington back to the community does not go through the hands of the representative's office," said Pete Jeffries, communications director for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, a Republican who represents the west suburban 14th District. The district got $2.4 billion, eighth locally.

The federal spending process is simply confusing, added Ellen Taylor, policy analyst for OMB Watch, a Washington D.C.-based organization that monitors the White House Office of Management and Budget. "If you ... think about this huge omnibus legislation where there is all sorts of money going in all sorts of different odd directions for all sorts of things, I don't think anybody really knows where all of this money is going."

The database broke federal spending into broad categories according to "function," such as higher education, pollution control and federal law enforcement. Social Security and Medicare accounted for nearly half of the federal spending in the state. Other big-ticket categories included mortgage credit and health care services.

Nearly $500 million of the $54 billion in federal spending in Illinois went toward miscellaneous, uncategorized or unknown items. And more than 60 percent of that money went into the 12 districts in the Chicago area.

Immediate Needs

The three districts with African American majorities--the 1st, which stretches across Chicago's South Side; the 2nd; and the 7th, which includes the West Side and most of downtown--received, on average, $3.2 billion in federal spending, compared to $2.3 billion spent in the eight districts that are at least 50 percent white. Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez's 4th District, which covers parts of the Northwest and Southwest sides and is 70 percent Latino, got $2.7 billion.

The minority districts are all represented by Democrats, as are three white districts in Chicago. Republicans hold all five suburban district seats.

Urban districts have greater needs for roads, public transportation and assistance for low-income residents, said Ira Cohen, director of issues and communications for 7th District Rep. Danny K. Davis. Cohen pointed out that the district includes some of the largest public housing complexes in the country, which also require a lot of federal money.

The district received $3.7 billion in 1999, the most in Illinois, including $106 million for housing assistance and $76 million for ground transportation.

"They're projects that obviously impact much of Chicago, and to say they're targeted to the 7th District is oversimplifying it," he said.

Billy Weinberg, press secretary for Gutierrez, added that, because many of the region's services and resources are located in the city; the urban districts bear the financial burden of running them. For example, he said, the local office of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is located at 10 W. Jackson Blvd. in downtown Chicago, but constituents from districts across the area rely on its services.

The Reporter's analysis also shows the districts with the highest poverty rates generally received the most money, especially in direct aid--for housing, food and other kinds of immediate needs.

According to data from the 2000 census, the 7th District has a poverty rate of 21 percent, highest in the area. In addition to housing assistance, the district received $179 million in food and nutrition assistance. The three black districts received 28 percent of the entire state's food assistance.