 Since they collect all taxes themselves and only send a prearranged amount to the central government for the competences exclusive to the state, they do not participate in "fiscal equalization", in that they do not receive any money back.As more responsibilities have been assumed by the autonomous communities in areas such as social welfare, health, and education, public expenditure patterns have seen a shift from the central government towards the communities since the 1980s.In the late 2000s, autonomous communities accounted for 35% of all public expenditure in Spain, a percentage that is even higher than that of states within a federation.