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This article asks whether the Reagan Executive Order (EO) 12372 matters for intergovernmental fiscal relations today. To address this question, federal grant receipts from programs that are, and programs that are not, covered by EO 12372 are compared by examining the differential effects of political and local administrative capacity on each. Grant receipts are examined by coding federal grant award data from 1993 to 2003 using Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance reference numbers. In the case state, Kentucky, Area Development Districts are the regional functionaries for the state single point of contact clearinghouse, by virtue of which status they review proposals for federal funding originating in, or affecting, their districts. Since federal award decisions take clearinghouse information into account on grant programs covered by EO 12372, differences in the effects of local capacity on receipt of grants covered and not covered by the EO are expected. Methodology used in this post-only analysis is pooled cross-sectional time series analysis with panel corrected standard errors. Results focus attention on the differential effects of government administrative and political capacity as they apply to federal grants covered, and not covered, by the EO.
KEY WORDS: Executive Order 12372, grants, intergovernmental relations, fiscal federalism, government capacity
Introduction
Does Presidential Executive Order (EO) 12372 matter in the post-Reagan intergovernmental system?1 President Ronald Reagan signed EO 12372 on July 14, 1982. It was intended to ensure a local role in federal decisions and to provide a mechanism for systematic intergovernmental review of appUcations for federal funding. The Order continues in effect today, although its effects should not be considered uniform across states; most states do not presently have formal systems of review under the auspice of the Order, and those that do vary in their scope and form. The Order requires federal agencies to take local comment into consideration in funding decisions for those grant programs it covers. Not aU federal programs are covered, which provides a convenient framework for this evaluative design. The Order permits, but does not require, states to estabUsh a single point of contact (SPOC) for intergovernmental review. As noted above, not all states have established such offices, and those that have differ substantially in structure and local process/ procedures. This essay explores EO 12372's policy effects...