The Recovery Act at One Year

RECOVERY BY THE NUMBERS

One year in, the Recovery Act is at work across the country creating jobs and driving economic growth. From major highway projects to green retrofits of military facilities and manufacturing of advanced batteries, more than 55,000 projects across the country have now been funded through the Recovery Act.

To get an up close look at some of those projects, click HERE. This is in addition to the nearly $120 billion in tax relief already provided to American families and businesses – with more to come this year – and the billions of dollars in relief provided to shore up state and local government programs like Medicaid and education facing severe budget shortfalls. To see a video of how the Recovery Act is helping cities across the country click HERE.

This is what it looks like, by the numbers:

Jobs

· CBO: According to the nonpartisan CBO, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009. 

· CEA, Other Private Forecasters: Analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs – a figure in line with estimates from private forecasters like IHS Global, Moody’s Economy and even the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 

The Economy

· GDP/Economic Growth: In the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy grew 5.7 percent – – the largest gain in six years and something many economists say is largely due to the Recovery Act. Before the Recovery Act, the economy was shrinking by about 6 percent. 

· Job Losses: Job losses for the fourth quarter of 2009 were one-seventh what they were in the first quarter of 2009 when the Recovery Act was passed. 

Recovery Dollars 

* Spending: Nearly 70 percent of the $499 billion in Recovery Act spending has been obligated to specific programs and projects so far, putting those dollars to work in communities across the country. 

* Tax Relief: Nearly $120 billion in tax relief has been provided for working families and businesses through the Recovery Act this year. 

Infrastructure 

· Transportation Construction: Over 12,500 transportation construction projects – ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects – have been funded so far. Of those, more than 8,500 are already underway across the country – with even more breaking ground as the weather warms up. 

· Defense Construction: Over 2,850 DOD construction and rehabilitation projects have been started at over 350 military facilities nationwide. 

· Superfund Sites: 51 Superfund project sites from the National Priority List have been funded. Of those sites, 34 already have on-site construction. 

· National Parks: Over 300 improvement projects underway or completed at 175 National Parks nationwide. 

· Community Health Centers: Over 1,100 health center grant recipients operate more than 7,500 community-based clinics nationwide have received nearly $1.9 billion in Health Resources and Services Administration Recovery Act awards to build or improve facilities and expand services. 

· Public Housing: Over 3,100 public housing authorities have been awarded Recovery Act funding totaling nearly $4 billion, helping to create jobs, retrofit housing, and support construction projects to improve public housing across the country. 

* Build America Bonds: Over $70 billion in Build America Bonds have been issued in 47 states since April 2009 to fund a wide array of critical infrastructure projects, many of which may have been stalled or unfunded construction projects. Build America Bonds attract a wider array of investors and provide a more attractive financing option for States and localities, and they now represent about 19 percent of municipal bond debt issued since the popular program began. 

Technology/Innovation 

· Advanced Batteries and Electric Vehicles: $2.4 billion in grants have been awarded to companies and educational institutions in over 20 states to fund 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will help power the next generation of advanced vehicles. 

· Smart Energy Grid: $3.4 billion in grants have been awarded to private companies, utilities, manufacturers and cities to fund smart energy grid projects that will support tens of thousands of jobs and benefit consumers in 49 states. 

· Energy-Efficient Vehicles: $300 million in grants have been awarded to 25 cost-share projects under DOE’s Clean Cities program to expand the nation’s fleet of alternative fuel vehicles by putting more than 9,000 alternative fuel and energy efficient vehicles on the road. 

· Health Research: More than $5 billion in awards have been made through 12,000 grants to research and educational institutions to fund cutting edge medical research in every state. 

· Broadband: The first of over $7 billion in awards to bring broadband to communities where there is little or no access have been made – a significant step forward in driving local economic development. 

· High Speed Rail: Projects in 31 states to help lay a foundation for a high speed rail network here in the U.S. – including down-payments on 13 new, large-scale high-speed rail corridors across the country. This $8 billion investment will not only create jobs and drive economic growth, but jump-start a critical element of 21st century infrastructure. 

· Health IT: Over $750 million in awards have been made to state and local governments and community organizations to help prepare for widespread, meaningful use of health information technology. The awards will help make health IT available to over 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2014 and grow an emerging industry expected to support tens of thousands of jobs. 

Immediate Relief 

· Middle Class Tax Cut: Over 110 million working families have received a boost in their paycheck thanks to the Making Work Pay tax credit. Through this program, 95 percent of American families received an immediate infusion of cash that totaled $37 billion in tax relief in 2009. 

· Emergency Relief Checks: Nearly 55 million seniors, veterans and other high-need residents across the country have received one-time economic relief payments of $250, totaling $13.7 billion in relief. 

· Unemployment Benefits: More than 18 million Americans have received unemployment benefits through the Recovery Act. 

· Small Business Loans: SBA has supported nearly $20 billion in ARRA-funded loans to over 42,000 small businesses since the Recovery Act was signed into law. 

Aid to State and Local Governments 

· Medicaid: The Recovery Act has already made more than $56 billion available to states to help prevent cuts to Medicaid programs across the country. 

* Education: More than $60 billion of Recovery Act funding has been awarded to help support education budgets – a move that governors say funded over 300,000 education jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009. 

· Law Enforcement: Over 4,600 law enforcement officers from more than 1,000 communities nationwide received three years of salary and benefits through the COPS program.