The Politics of Federal Block Grants: From Nixon to Reagan

The Privatization of College Housing: Poverty, Affordability, and the U.S. Public University

“…An in-depth overview of the history of block grant funding is not possible due to space considerations. See Conlan (1984) for an early history, including the reorganization of block grants by the Reagan Administration, and Finegold, Wherry, and Schardin (2004) for a more recent overview. 5.…”

After the Marland Report

“…Ironically, Representative Erlenborn, one of the same Congressmen responsible for the legislation that made the Marland Report possible, proposed this act. Reagan also wanted to eliminate the Department of Education but was unsuccessful with Congress and instead started dismantling it from within; one of the first casualties included the Office of Gifted and Talented (Conlan, 1984).…”

The Distribution of Federal Economic Development Grant Funds: A Consideration of Need and the Urban/Rural Divide

“…Categorical grants typically come in the form of project grants, which are competitive in nature and often involve stringent requirements as to how or for what purpose they may be spent (federal discretion). On the other hand, revenue sharing and block grants tend to favor state or local control over the use of grant funds, with a vast reduction in the restrictions on spending imposed by the federal government (local discretion; Aronson & Hilley, 1986;Conlan, 1984). Block grants represent a hybrid grant form in that they allow local discretion in administration but are limited to expenditure within certain topical categories.…”