Congressman Collin Peterson -- Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District
 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Federal departments and agencies are actively working to begin to implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law on February 17.  Interested parties can monitor the progress on the www.recovery.gov website.

In addition, in some cases, key information about the implementation of the Recovery Act is already available on the recovery websites of federal departments.  For example, in some cases, there are state-by-state tables on the allocations of the funding being provided under the Act.

All interested parties are encouraged to continually monitor the recovery pages of the individual federal departments in order to obtain the most up-to-date information about the Act’s implementation.

Some of the key recovery websites of federal departments that it would be worthwhile to monitor include the following:

www.hhs.gov/recovery

www.usda.gov/recovery

www.hud.gov/recovery

www.ed.gov/recovery

www.energy.gov/recovery

www.dot.gov/recovery

www.usdoj.gov/recovery

www.dol.gov/recovery/

www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html?portlet=6

In the last couple of weeks, certain key actions have been taken by Obama Administration officials to begin releasing Recovery Act funds to the states and local governments, such as:

·        The allocation of $10 billion by HUD to state and local recipients for eight specific programs on February 25;

·        The release of $15 billion in Medicaid Fiscal Relief funds to the states on February 25;

·        The release of $155 million for Community Health Centers on March 2;

·        The release of  $27 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair on March 3; and

·        The release of $8.4 billion for public transit projects on March 4.

Following is an overview:

Department of Agriculture

The Recovery Act provides $28 billion for programs administered by the USDA. The Act provides $19.8 billion to increase the monthly amount of nutrition assistance to 28 million people. Enables expanded opportunities for broadband loans and grants to rural communities. It also expands funding opportunities to develop water and waste facilities and provides funding to protect and conserve the nation's forests and farm land. www.usda.gov/recovery

Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Recovery Act provides a total of $13.6 billion for projects and programs administered by HUD.  Nearly 75 percent of that total – or $10.1 billion – was allocated to state and local recipients on February 25, 2009.

Following is an overview of the $10.1 billion that was allocated to state and local recipients on February 25, by program.  A map of the United States , providing the state-by-state totals for each of these following eight HUD programs can be found at:  http://www.hud.gov/recovery/tcap.cfm

Promoting Energy Efficiency & Creating Green Jobs

·        $3 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund (PHCF)

·        $255 million for Native American Housing Block Grants (NABF)

·        $10.2 million for Native Hawaiian Housing Grants (NHHG)

·        $100 million for Lead Hazard Reduction (LHR)

Supporting Shovel-Ready Projects and Assisted Housing Improvements

·        $2.25 billion for the Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP)

·        $2 billion for Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA)

·        $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)

Helping Families Hardest Hit by the Economic Crisis

·       $1.5 billion for Homelessness Prevention Fund (HPF)

Department of Health and Human Services

Medicaid

The Recovery Act protects health care coverage for millions of Americans during this recession, by providing a total of $87 billion in additional federal matching funds to the states for Medicaid over a 27-month period – beginning October 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009.  This Medicaid Fiscal Relief for the states is designed to help the states -- in the face of an unprecedented, massive state fiscal crisis -- to avoid further cuts in Medicaid enrollment and coverage. 

President Obama announced on February 23 that states would be able to access the first two quarters of this Medicaid Fiscal Relief starting on February 25 – totaling $15 billion.

A state-by-state table can be found at: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/statefunds.html 

Community Health Centers

The Recovery Act provides a total of $2 billion for Community Health Centers over the next two years, in order to reduce health care costs by meeting basic health needs for uninsured Americans.

On March 2, President Obama announced the release of $155 million in Recovery Act funds – the first installment of this $2 billion appropriation – to support 126 Community Health Centers across the country.  These grants totaling $155 million alone will help provide health services to 750,000 Americans and create 5,500 jobs.

A list of the 126 Community Health Centers receiving this first installment of Recovery Act funding for Community Health Centers can be found at:  http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/hrsa/applicant.html

Department of Transportation

Construction and Repair of Highways & Bridges

The Recovery Act provides a total of $27 billion for building and repairing highways, roads, and bridges.

On March 3, President Obama announced the release of the entire $27 billion to states and local transportation authorities to repair and build highways, roads and bridges.  This investment will lead to 150,000 jobs saved or created by the end of 2010.  State highway departments have already identified more than 100 transportation projects across the country, totaling more than $750 million, where construction can start within the month.

A map of the United States , providing how much each state has been allocated can be found at:  http://www.recovery.gov/?q=content/rebuilding-infrastructure.

Public Transit

The Recovery Act provides a total of $8.4 billion for public transit projects.

On March 4, Vice President Biden and Secretary of Transportation LaHood announced that the entire $8.4 billion has been made available to repair and build public transportation infrastructure throughout the country.

A state-by-state table, showing how much of the $8.4 billion each state has been allocated can be found at: http://www.recovery.gov/?q=node/202

Department of Labor

The Recovery Act provides an increase in unemployment benefits for all eligible individuals of $25 per week.  These extra benefits are 100 percent federally-funded.

On February 26, the Labor Department announced that the implementation of this provision was beginning in some states as early as the week of March 1.  Over the next several weeks, all states will be implementing this increase.  The $25 weekly increase is retroactive, covering weeks of unemployment beginning February 22.

More information can be found at the Labor Department’s recovery website: http://www.dol.gov/recovery .

 

Department of Education

The Education Department’s recovery website, which can be found at http://www.ed.gov/recovery, has some state-by-state tables showing preliminary estimates of how Recovery Act funding for numerous education programs will be allocated, including such programs as the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Title I, IDEA (Special Education) Part B Grants to States, Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants, Federal Work-Study, and Pell Grants.

 

Department of Justice

The Justice Department’s recovery website also includes some useful information.

For example, the website contains the state and local allocations for the $2 billion in Recovery Act funds that were provided for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) program.  This critical program supports local law enforcement efforts by helping to fund equipment and operating costs.  The specific website where the state and local allocations can be found is: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/recoveryJAG/recoveryallocations.html .

 

Internal Revenue Service

The IRS website has details on many of the tax changes in the Recovery Act, including details about the Making Work Pay tax cut that will start increasing Americans’ paychecks by April 1st .

The specific IRS website with the information on the Recovery Act provisions is:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html?portlet=6 

 

A Useful Overview of Programs Funded in the Recovery Act

The Council of State Governments has released a useful report that summarizes all of the relevant provisions of the Recovery Act, including a list of every funded program.  The report is entitled, “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:  A Guide for State and Local Governments.”

 

This report can be found at: http://www.staterecovery.org/federal-assistance .