The political basis of the origins of revenue sharing

Conclusion

During the debates leading up to the enactment of revenue sharing, critics correctly observed that it had become a panacea for groups of widely different interest. To liberals, revenue sharing had become a device for improving intergovernmental fiscal relations and streamlining the grant delivery system. To conservatives, it was a way to end the growth in categorical grants and consequently the government bureaucracy. Cities, counties, and states saw it as a solution to the fiscal crisis which they felt they were facing. Had revenue sharing not been seen as a panacea, it probably never would have become law.