Reports
News About the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
11/19/2010
Yesterday, the Council of Economic Advisers released its latest quarterly report on the economic impact of the Recovery Act. The report shows that the Recovery Act added 2.7 percent to third quarter GDP growth and by some measures has exceeded the original goal of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010. [White House, 11/18/10]
The Worcester Telegram (Massachusetts) - Stimulus good for higher ed
[DISTRICTS MENTIONED: John Olver (MA-1), Richard Neal (MA-2), Jim McGovern (MA-3), and Niki Tsongas (MA-5)]
…there is ample evidence that the stimulus bill absolutely helped thousands of Worcester-area students, families and colleges, universities and businesses…
In the Greater Worcester area, with its rich fabric of public and private colleges and universities, nearly 6,400 college students received a Pell Grant, totaling more than $18 million. This infusion of grant money was crucial to help keep students in school. Keeping enrollment up at our colleges and universities directly translated to saving jobs on our campuses.
The stimulus bill also infused $200 million into the federal work study program. In Greater Worcester, this translated to 2,059 working students who participated in this program, earning nearly $3.2 million to help with the cost of their education.
Massachusetts received an impressive share of the NIH’s $10.4 billion funded through the stimulus bill and is second only to California in the number of stimulus-funded NIH grants awarded. Since the stimulus was enacted, more than 1,500 health-related grants, worth $623 million, have come to Massachusetts.
The suggestion that the stimulus bill has done nothing for our economy is simply not supported by the facts — just the opposite is true. [11/19/10]
WDUQ 90.5-FM (Pennsylvania) - 1,000 Weatherization Workers Trained, 1,000 to go
Pennsylvania is more than halfway toward its goal to help nearly 30,000 low-income homeowners improve their energy efficiency and reduce costs through the federal stimulus program.
"Work that creates jobs, conserves energy and reduces costs for homeowners...Those homeowners are now saving an average of $600 each year on their energy costs. But this effort is about more than simply saving energy and money; this Recovery Act-funded initiative is boosting local economies across the state,” [said Governor Ed Rendell].
More than 1,000 workers have already been trained over the last year and a new round of federal grants will help prepare 1,000 additional weatherization installers, crew chiefs and auditors across the state in the coming year. The governor said these job skills will carry well into the future. [11/18/10]
Philadelphia Daily News (Pennsylvania) - 58,000 Philly students took part in expanded summer-school program
[DISTRICTS MENTIONED: Robert Brady (PA-1), Chaka Fattah (PA-2), Patrick Murphy (PA-8), and Allyson Schwartz (PA-13)]
Roughly 58,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade students attended the expanded summer-school program called SLAM in July, David Weiner, associate superintendent for curriculum and accountability, said yesterday during a presentation to the School Reform Commission.
Weiner said that 597 students graduated as a result of this year's Summer Learning and More program.
The summer program cost $42 million, half paid by federal stimulus dollars, half by state grants, Weiner said. [11/18/10]
Sustainable Business Oregon - Stimulus nets Oregon $380M for energy projects
Stimulus spending by the Oregon Department of Energy has funded more than $45 million in energy projects in the state, according to an announcement this week from the department, touting awards to 292 projects in 36 counties.
"It put people to work for one week, two weeks, or three weeks — like electricians. But the savings that come from these projects like the schools, that money that is not going to be going to the electric bill, is going to be able to go somewhere else," she [Ann Grim, communications specialist at the Oregon Department of Energy] said, adding that the money could potentially go to other contractor.”
The total energy either saved or produced by renewable projects funded by the grants was 195 million kilowatt hours, enough to heat more than 16,000 Oregon homes for a year. [11/18/10]
Hartford Courant (Connecticut) - Area Residents Graduate From Utility Worker Training Program Ready To Start New Careers
Eleven area residents graduated from a training program with their commercial driver's license (CDLB) and the skills and knowledge to begin new careers in the utility industry.
"This program has the potential to make a big difference in the lives of these graduates, as well as a positive impact on Connecticut's energy-sector employers," says Judith K. Resnick, CBIA's [Connecticut Business & Industry Association] director of workforce development and training and the executive director of CBIA's Education Foundation. "The energy sector faces a shortage of skilled workers, something that this and other work force training programs seek to address."
The program was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund. [11/17/10]
Other Headlines:
- Dorchester Reporter (Massachusetts) - $7m federal grant helping Dot House expand its services
- The Herald (Arkansas) - Campus making renovations with stimulus money
- Centre Daily Times (Pennsylvania) - Loan will fund new nursing home roof