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Dear Friends,
Families in Massachusetts are facing some of the most difficult times in decades. With unemployment still high, many are struggling to pay bills and stay in their homes. As your Representative in Congress, I will continue to do everything I can to get our economy back on track. While we still have a long way to go, there are steady signs of recovery.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which I voted for last year, is a vital part ofthe strategy to create jobs and rebuild our economy. The Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Office announced in August that Recovery Act dollars have created 10,432 full-time jobs and put 27,044 individuals back at work in Massachusetts in last the 3 months alone. Since the stimulus program began in February 2009, over 41,830 individuals in Massachusetts have received a paycheck funded by the Recovery Act.
In my district, the 7th district of Massachusetts, more than $305 million has been committed to fund projects aimed at improving the economy and getting our country working again.
For example:
The Recovery Act is supporting education: This year alone, over 16,000 teachers, professors and school administrators across Massachusetts were directly supported by Recovery Act funds. Funds have helped school districts from Waltham to Revere create early childhood education programs, provide teacher training, buy new equipment for disabled students and offer more nutritious lunches. Recovery Act dollars have helped public colleges and universities balance their budgets and offer scholarships.
The Recovery Act is supporting clean energy and the environment: As an innovation-oriented economy, Massachusetts-based institutions have been able to use Recovery Act support to move forward in developing the solar, wind, biomass, and clean vehicle technologies that will transformthe way the world generates and uses energy. Cutting edge companies from the 7th District like Medford-based Agrivida, 1366 Technologies in Lexington, and A123 Systems in Watertown are using Recovery Act funds todevelop the clean energy technologies, scale-up production, and create jobs. Novomer Inc., in Waltham, received a grant to improve and expand its manufacturing of clean plastics and hire approximately 200 new full-time employees. Of the 201 small business clean energy research awards recently announced by the Department of Energy as part of the Recovery Act, 39 will be coming home to Massachusetts.
The Recovery Act is supporting local law enforcement: Local governments havebeen able to maintain and update their police departments. The City of Medford bought new scanning and radar equipment for its officers with Recovery Act funds. Framingham used funds to develop web-based technology to improve communications between the police and outside agencies in order to increase its police department’s capacity to respond to major incidents.
The Recovery Act is supporting housing and transportation: Housing departments across the district are supporting new community housing projects for elders and updating neighborhood infrastructure including, water, sewage and drainage lines.Transportation projects are improving roadways, transit systems, and pedestrian/ bike facilities. A new garage that is central to the redevelopment of Revere is under construction at the Wonderland Station as well as a new bike path near MBTA Station. Route 9 between Framinghamand Natick is being resurfaced and made more accessible with upgraded sidewalks and ramps.
Click HERE for a working list of Recovery Act Projects in the 7th District.
Reducing the deficit: Some have raised concerns about the impact of the Recovery Act on the federal deficit. Deepening our financial deficit is certainly not a step that I take lightly; however, if Congress had not acted decisively in early 2009 to stimulate economic growth and create new jobs, it is likely that the recession would have been far worse and that many more people would have lost their jobs.
Moreover, we are taking action to reduce the size of the deficit - over the last two years, the House has approved measures to help bring the deficit down and set a path toward long-term fiscal balance, including abudget enforcement resolution, PAYGO, and additional measures to address waste, fraud and abuse. These measures include:
o Enactment of Statutory “Pay-As-You-Go” to restore the 1990s lawthat helped turn record deficits into surpluses by ensuring that Congress must offset new policies that reduce revenues or expand entitlements.
o Enacting Health Care and Education Reforms that will cut the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next20 years, slow the growth of health care costs and produce long-term savings, and end wasteful student loan subsidies to middlemen who administer student loans.
o Enacting Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform to crack down on waste and cost overruns in the acquisition of weapon systems, increasing oversight and competition while decreasing spending (GAO projects this creates $296 billion in savings).
o Enacting Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse by identifying, reducing, and eliminating improper payments by federal agencies. (Will reduce wasteful, improper payments by $50 billion between now and 2012.)
o PassingBudget Enforcement Resolution that cuts discretionary spending below the President’s budget, reinforces commitment to PAYGO, directs committees to cut waste, fraud and abuse, endorses the goals of the fiscal commission and commits to a vote on their recommendations. (Requires spending cuts of $7 billion below the President’s budget and $3 billion below the Senate resolution.)
o Passing IMPROVE Acquisition Act to reduce spending and restore fiscal responsibility, saving taxpayers billions while ensuring that our troops have the equipment they need to accomplish their mission. (Saves taxpayers an estimated $27 billion a year.)
The House Budget Committee recently released a report on the actions taken over the last several months to reduce the deficit. If you would like to read this report, click HERE .
Saving the National Economy: The steps taken by this Congress have dramatically improved thenational economy. According to a new, nonpartisan report by Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act’s policies raised the realgross domestic product (GDP) by approximately 3 percent in the last part of 2010 and increased the number of American jobs by as much as 3.3.million.
If you would like to read this report, click HERE .
Whilechallenging times still lay ahead, our economy is recovering. The Congress and the President have taken many crucial steps necessary to address the urgent challenges our country is facing. I can assure you that we remain committed to doing everything we can to promote job growth and economic recovery, and I remain optimistic that our country has an even brighter future ahead.
Please continue to contact me with any questions or concerns. You can email me, sign up for my newsletter, and stay up to date on the latest issues by visiting my website: http://markey.house.gov/.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Please pass this message on to your friends and neighbors!
Sincerely,
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