5-04-09, 9:17 am
Original source: The Atlanta Progressive News
(APN) ATLANTA - Soon after President Barack Obama took the oath of office, US Congress passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), sweeping legislation designed to stimulate a deeply troubled economy.
Obama on February 17, 2009, signed into law legislation designed to help working families, encourage energy efficiency, assist law enforcement, improve transportation, bolster education, and expand health care opportunities.
Now, with Obama recently having passed the 100-day mark of his young presidency, here is a breakdown of how ARRA funds will benefit Georgia.
TAXES
Under ARRA, 95 percent of working families benefited from the Making Work Pay tax initiative.
In 2009 and 2010, Making Work Pay provides a refundable tax credit of 6.2 percent of earned income up to $400 for individuals and $800 for joint filers.
All told, 3.4 million working Georgia families will receive $1.7 billion through Making Work Pay.
ARRA will also provide Georgians with $82.8 million in child care funds.
TRANSPORTATION
During the 2008 campaign, transportation improvements were a high priority for Obama. Significant portions of ARRA funds address this area.
Georgia received $931.5 million in highway funds to repair and build roads and bridges. Of that money, 67 percent will go directly to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). Another 30 percent will go to the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), which will determine projects to be funded from their allocations.
On March 19, GDOT approved a list of 135 Phase One road projects valued at over $512 million. Gov. Sonny Perdue certified 67 of these projects, valued at $207 million, in an April 7 letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
Private road contractors are expected to hire 25,000 workers for these projects in June, according to an April 18 report on NBC's 11Alive.com.
To repair and expand public transportation infrastructure, Georgia will receive $143.5 million. Urbanized and non-urbanized transit systems will receive $136 million while MARTA will receive $7 million.
On April 16, the White House announced the release of $8 billion to foster high-speed rail lines across the nation. The Obama Administration is urging states and local communities to begin planning for a network of 100-mile to 600-mile rail corridors.
But advocates and other business officials worry that Georgia's long-term love affair with road projects has left the state lagging behind others in rail infrastructure.
As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, the Georgia General Assembly considered two transportation bills this session: one that would have used a statewide sales tax to fund transportation projects, and another that would have used a regional sales tax approach. Once again, neither bill passed.
Lawmakers also failed to act on a bill that would have allowed MARTA, which receives no meaningful state funding, to access its own capital reserves to make up a gap in its operating budget. Even with $7 million from ARRA, MARTA still faces an operating gap and may have to cut service this summer.
Other big-name transit projects like the BeltLine and the Lovejoy to Atlanta rail line will be clamoring for ARRA funds.
Georgia also received $8.2 million to address airport safety and security, infrastructure, runway safety, increased capacity, and mitigation of environmental impacts.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
ARRA doled out billions to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.
Georgia received $67 million in block grants to foster energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and numerous other improvements.
To support the weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks, and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, Georgia received $124.7 million.
This funding is already putting people in Metro Atlanta back to work. The Clarkston-based Partnership for Community Action expects to increase the number of homes it can weatherize in DeKalb County and three nearby counties from 240 to 700, according to an April 20 report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper.
The State Energy Program received an $82 million boost. This program provides rebates to consumers for energy saving improvements; for the development of renewable energy projects; for the promotion of Energy Star products; and for efficiency upgrades for state and local government buildings.
The Savannah River Site will receive $1.615 billion to clean up contaminated areas and create 3,000 jobs, according to a March 31 report in The Augusta Chronicle newspaper.
Work at the site includes decommissioning two nuclear material production reactors, shipping more than 4,500 cubic meters of waste out of South Carolina, and reducing the site's industrial area by 40 percent by September 2011, according to The Chronicle.
EDUCATION
Georgia could potentially receive as much as $2.3 billion to reform education, repair crumbling schools, and save teaching jobs.
The Georgia General Assembly used stimulus money to avoid new health premium increases for 225,000 teachers and state employees in the fiscal year 2010 budget.
HEALTH CARE
Georgia will receive nearly $5 million to fund four new community health centers that can serve an estimated 31,000 new patients and create 235 new jobs.
Another 28 existing centers will receive nearly $7 million to expand services to an additional 45,000 patients and create 101 new jobs.
The Georgia General Assembly used $30 million to continue funding nurses in public schools and to fill gaps in Medicaid, which provides health care for low-income and disabled citizens.
To protect families struggling through the economic crisis and other vulnerable citizens, Georgia received $339 million through the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).
Additionally, Georgia received $6.2 million to provide vaccines to low-income citizens and $2.4 million to provide meals to low-income seniors.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
A $58 million jolt into the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program will aid Georgia law enforcement in several ways: hiring more officers, creating more multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces, and creating more crime and domestic violence prevention programs.
To read more about ARRA, visit www.atlantaprogressiveblog.com and search under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
--Jonathan Springston is a Senior Staff Writer for The Atlanta Progressive News and is reachable at jonathan@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
