In 2008 the Austrian parliament endorsed a new fiscal equalisation law that changed the revenue mix of both the state and the local level, and amended federal funding for social benefits and the health care system (). The reform consisted of several elements: i) a transformation of most intergovernmental grants into a higher sub-central government (SCG) share in federal tax revenue; ii) an increase in intergovernmental transfers for mandated health care and social welfare responsibilities; iii) a change in the equalisation formula that allocates payments between small and large sub-central governments; and iv) a change in underlying population statistics. In addition, procedural legislation for levying taxes and fees was harmonised across the nine states. The 2008 fiscal equalisation reform was considered quite significant and also seems to have provided a push for a wider-reaching institutional and fiscal relations reform.