Consensus at the November meeting of the National Academy of Public Administration about government funding for services provided by nonprofits was rather bleak. State budget improvements in some states do not mean that state governments have recovered. In 2014, total spending for all 50 states fell below its peak in 2008. This is partially due to the ongoing cuts in federal discretionary spending, a trajectory that is likely to continue unless the Budget Control Act is amended. One speaker opined that if the Budget Control Act and its arbitrary, across-the-board cuts policy known as “sequestration” remain in effect, non-defense domestic discretionary spending will drop below the lowest level in the modern era. Much of the funding for the services that nonprofits provide in communities comes from discretionary grants from the federal government to state and local governments, which in turn contract or grant with nonprofits.