Stimulus Opportunities in Washington State

About: Program Contacts

Yesterday Gov. Chris Gregoire signed the transportation stimulus measure, House Bill 1978. The legislation authorizes the immediate spending of federal stimulus funds for state projects and approves the 2009 supplemental transportation budget. This item points to a list of programs and their contacts. We are in the phase where state and local agencies choose projects for these federal monies. I'm going to be tracking what happens in Western Washington and even, hopefully, going out and getting some pictures of actual work being done.

Another thing i'm interested in is the $60 million weatherization grants.

source: near the end of the page
The state will distribute to local energy programs. The income eligibility threshold is lowered from 150 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and the limit on the amount of assistance is increased from $2,500 to $6,500.

I think i qualify and that would go a long way to help me get new windows in this house. Another thing may be the Pell grants for some training for Jason. Stay tuned.

About this item: This is for tracking how the stimulus affects Washington state and our city of Renton. If you have any specific information about Washington state projects by all means post it here. This item is not for posting generalized observations about the stimulus and those kind of comments will be summarily deleted.

Comments

Seth says

its a good idea for the American people to track the stimulus and how the money is actually being spent themselves and not rely on the government to do so. The website for that is stimuluswatch.org. I've been keeping an eye on Renton, WA and have already posted my concern on one of the projects.

Mark de LA says

seth 2009-05-06 10:32:21 11581

Then why pretend otherwise that it's being done by Washington? The figures are really only known by the treasury. The actual allocations should be made public. Then the taxpayers & public can take a look at the reality in their own neighborhoods & pass judgement on whether it is worth it in results & jobs.

Mark de LA says

I'm thinking about the difference between appropriating funds & what is actually spent. Is the money being spent for the reason it was allocated or is it being spent on someone else's project while the taxpayers are not watching. Your example in Renton is a good one to probe. Who the contractors are is also of importance. Whose donors are getting the contracts?

Seth says

MR 2009-05-06 10:55:12 11581

seth 2009-05-06 10:32:21 11581

The figures for the stimulus package are publicly known even down to specific projects. Perhaps you are thinking of the TARP where that is not the case. The figures for the stimulus were publicized a long time ago for each state. The states then chose projects and those had to be publicized - there is even a RSS feed for that. We know where this money is supposed to go - that is not the issue. The issue is whether the money actually ends up being spent according to the stated intentions and what effect it has on stimulating local economies. My own, specific complaint, regarding Renton is that the project as stated in the database does not match my local observations in that those railroad bridges have already been built ... err last year. If you want i can show you a picture of them. The only remaining thing to be done is the widening of Ranier Ave. The description of the project should be altered to match the reality of the project otherwise we will be ending up with confusion.

Mark de LA says

Here is a link to Mankiw's Blog on the question of whether there are going to be numbers on jobs lost & jobs created, etc. A bunch of mumbo-jumbo nets out to "it's complicated" according to an administration response. A corollary is that it may be meaningless once they figure out how to answer the question.

Hype & respond rather than design & measure providing the metrics first before spending the money seems to be the measure of this administration.

Mark de LA says

... more on the lost or created fiction in the WSJ.

source: ...

Mr. Obama's comments yesterday are a perfect illustration of just such a claim. In the months since Congress approved the stimulus, our economy has lost nearly 1.6 million jobs and unemployment has hit 9.4%. Invoke the magic words, however, and -- presto! -- you have the president claiming he has "saved or created" 150,000 jobs. It all makes for a much nicer spin, and helps you forget this is the same team that only a few months ago promised us that passing the stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising over 8%.

...If the "saved or created" formula looks brilliant, it's only because Mr. Obama and his team are not being called on their claims. And don't expect much to change. So long as the news continues to repeat the administration's line that the stimulus has already "saved or created" 150,000 jobs over a time period when the U.S. economy suffered an overall job loss 10 times that number, the White House would be insane to give up a formula that allows them to spin job losses into jobs saved.

...

Seth says

MR 2009-06-09 07:34:49 11581

... more on the lost or created fiction in the WSJ.

source: ...

...

Well i'll go take another look to see if any of the Washington state projects will be starting this summer ... one does get the impressing that they are going to try to escalate the pay outs. Btw, i could not find anything in your quotes that relate at all to Washington state.

Stimulus Opportunities in Washington State

About: Program Contacts

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