America gets back to work
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is law, and some infrastructure projects already are under way using the new $787 billion federal funding. Although some have questioned how the money should be distributed, local government associations say ARRA is the boost the economy needs.
The $55 billion in transportation and water infrastructure spending included in ARRA is a centerpiece of the bill, but it also includes $3.2 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Block Grant Program and $1 billion for Community Development Block Grants to cities and states. “[ARRA is] really a bill that addresses the bread-and-butter issues and the core functions of what a city government does,” says Michael Wallace, senior legislative counsel for the Washington-based National League of Cities. “And, I think it came at the right time because, as we’ve learned with our cities’ fiscal conditions surveys, cities are just now beginning to feel the real pinch of the economic downturn.”
Work began on road projects in Missouri, including a small bridge on a country road over the Osage River near Tuscumbia, Mo., minutes after President Obama signed ARRA into law on Feb. 17. However, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said in a statement he thinks more of the money should be spent in economically distressed areas, including several in his city, as required in the ARRA legislation. The Missouri Department of Transportation said in a statement that it is reviewing ARRA’s requirements before distributing the rest of the stimulus money.
Wallace says cities’ continuing loss of tax revenues and the resulting budget shortfalls they are experiencing make ARRA a necessity. “If [funding] doesn’t come from the federal government, we’re either going to have to cut services or raise revenues through taxes at the local level,” he says.
THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT CONTAINS:
$27.5 billion for modernizing roads and bridges
$8.4 billion for improving public transit and rail
$6 billion for drinking water infrastructure improvements
$3.2 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Block Grant Program
$1 billion for Community Development Block Grants to cities and states
$1 billion for the Community Oriented Policing Services program
Source: National League of Cities