Slow stimulus funding may delay projects
5/29/09 | 15 comments
first 100 days

Slow stimulus funding may delay projects


By Mal Leary
Capitol News Service

AUGUSTA, Maine — President Obama says he is pleased but not satisfied with the first 100 days of the economic stimulus effort.

Maine officials agree. With only about 7 percent of the $787 billion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act distributed as of last week there are concerns that some anticipated projects may be delayed.

“The Recovery Act has been very important to Maine,” said Finance Commissioner Ryan Low, but it also “has been frustrating. We still have not received guidance on even how to apply for some of the programs.”

Low said Maine was quick to apply for and receive about $86.8 million in stimulus funds for highway and bridge projects. For instance, he said Maine DOT had completed the southbound reconstruction of I-295 from Topsham to Gardiner last summer and was ready to do the northbound lanes now.

But millions more are still available to Maine for other infrastructure projects such as for municipal water and sewer programs and including more funds for roads.

And other state programs looking to spark economic development with stimulus money — programs such as those run through the Maine Housing Authority — are also awaiting funding, Low said.

“We are still waiting for guidance on where it is we apply for those funds,” he said.

On Thursday, State Controller Ed Karass told the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee that the state has had to front some cash for stimulus projects to get them started because of the delays in getting federal dollars.

“We have been spending money in advance of drawing ARRA funds on the Human Services side which has contributed to a large negative balance in the federal funds,” Karass said. “We have been using general fund cash to supplement what should have been ARRA funds.”

What has been flowing from the federal treasury to the state is money for several safety net programs, such as additional unemployment benefits and expanded food programs for the poor.

“What we have mostly been seeing is programs that are stabilizing the economy,” said Charles Colgan, an economist at the University of Southern Maine and chairman of the state economic forecasting commission. “When we worked on our updated forecast, we took into account that it would take a while to get the money out that would stimulate the economy.”

He said it appears programs such as the enhanced Medicaid matching rates for the state have helped in stabilizing state revenues and avoiding additional budget cuts or layoffs. That program is expected to bring $330 million to the state over two years.

But, Colgan said, if there are ongoing delays getting the stimulus funds for projects such as road repairs, building construction and other infrastructure needs, it could slow the pace of the recovery from the recession.

“All of that food stamp money and the increased unemployment payments have helped people buy groceries and pay their bills,” he said. “I think it is doing what was intended.”

The need can be measured by the size of the increase in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, the name given the food stamp program in the last year of the Bush administration.

In May 2008, the state provided food assistance for 178,243 Mainers that cost $16.7 million. This month, 206,841 individuals are getting aid that totals $26.6 million.

“That is certainly helping people that need it,” said University of Maine economics professor Jim Breece, who also serves on the economic forecasting commission. “I have to admit I am a little bit disappointed in the slowness that these funds are coming out. The recession is now. People are feeling the pain now.”

He agreed with Colgan that the initial cash from the Recovery Act was to help stabilize the economy, but said the federal government needs to get more of the stimulus funds moving for the programs that give people jobs.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported last week that through April only about $19 billion of the $787 billion in stimulus funds had been spent.

“We need those construction jobs and the ripple effect they have on the economy,” Colgan said. “There is a lot of money in the package to invest in the infrastructure and that will have a long-term benefit to the economy, not just the short-term stimulus.”

Low agreed and said Maine has a relatively short construction season and that every week of delay means that a road, housing or other infrastructure project could be delayed until next year.

“We need to get these projects going as soon as we can,” he said. “We are doing all we can at the state level, but there are some grants we don’t know about until we read a press release on them.”

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Comments
15 comments on this item
On 5/28/09 at 10:51 PM, HeadedSouth666 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Is anybody getting sick of the word "stimulus"?

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On 5/29/09 at 5:42 AM, zatwoodz wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 5/29/09 at 6:17 AM, hardworkingmom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Mabye Pres. Obama wouldn't have to clean up this mess had MR BUSH not created it!. There will never be a perfect president or one that everyone likes, but lets give Pres. Obama a chance to see if he can help our country out of this mess. It is not something that will happen instantly, and the people who are in charge of these stimulus programs should know how to get the applications, or whatever is needed to get the money that is for the recovery program. If they don't mabye they should do some serious phone calling. I'll do it if they would like.

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On 5/29/09 at 6:19 AM, hardworkingmom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

And also, part of being in the positions that these finance people are in is knowing how to access these things or how to get to the people they need to get to, that is why they are paid the BIG bucks with tax payer monies. Call Senators Collins and Snowe, mabye they can give you some help. But please don't just say, we don't know how to apply for this money, for God's sake you should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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On 5/29/09 at 7:19 AM, Ladyslipper wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

When the stimulus bill was presented it was made clear that only a very small percentage of the funds would be available in 2009. That was one of my concerns at the time when the "big push" was on to get this "emergency" bill passed into law.

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On 5/29/09 at 8:40 AM, zatwoodz wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

hardworkingmom: You are right Bush did screw up. But Obama is making him look like a small spender. I remember when people like you were screaming about how much Bush was spending. And now that Obama has spent twice as much and put our grandchildern in debt up to their ears. All we here is give him a chance!! This money has to come from somewhere. And it will be a tax on everything you buy, from 10 to 25% on top of the taxes we already have. I just hope the Goverment and OBAMA don't tax tents because many families will be living in them soon.

OBAMA I hope he only has four years! And I hope America can survive that 4.

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On 5/29/09 at 10:31 AM, chersully2000 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

hardworkingmom:

So true. And how noticeable that these folks would prefer to blame and criticize our current President who did not create this mess. It is unbelievable. But guess when your party has flubbed up, it is easy to dismiss that and blame our new President. Let them......I guess it is going to some long years for them. President Obama's approvability ratings are still high and I expect they will remain so. Let the nay-sayers groan on.

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On 5/29/09 at 11:07 AM, mrwaldo wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

there is not one shred of evidence that any "mess" i.e. economic slowdown/depression warrented this kind of draconion, drunken sailor mentality spending.

No responsible president would have gone down this path.....Also...um...Bush was in office for 32 economic quarters....27 of them were an increase in economic growth....i.e....economy was growing.....5 negative GDP growth does not warrant this kind of spending.

Bush was at the helm during those times. He is not reponsible for this presidents irresponsible actions....unless your a socialist......then Obama actions are cool....

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On 5/29/09 at 11:20 AM, CeeBlue wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

'hardworkingmom'

You are correct. Bush acted like a spend all you can Democrat. How else could THE most liberal senator { voting record } in the history of this country get elected.

Bush got him elected.

That said: if anyone [really] believes one can spend their way out of a recession/ go further in debt to to get us out of debt/socialize medicine to SAVE money! --BUY OUR OWN BONDS !!! --then they have never had a credit card or a math class.

Pelosi/Biden/Reid and B.H.O. God Help Us.

----:not that the other side has ANYONE that I see any better.

Stand by for a national sales tax!!! Revolution anyone-----peaceful.

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On 5/29/09 at 12:16 PM, boogyman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Let's see what Obama has done to help the economy:

Poured billions into GM and Chrysler, but they still went bankrupt. Failure.

Increase cafe standards and increase the cost of the average new car by $1,500. Failure.

Supporting a "cash for clunkers" plan, thus increasing the consumer cost of both new and used cars. Failure in the making.

Extend constitutional rights to enemies of Democracy to show them how nice we are. Failure of epic proportion.

Push a national healthcare plan that we do not have the nay way of paying for except massive tax hikes for everyone don the road. Future failure of epic proportion in the making.

By the way BDN, as much as you would like them to go on forever, the first 100 days are over.

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On 5/29/09 at 1:24 PM, zatwoodz wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Some more things he has failed on. N Korea now has started up its nuclear program and is possibly going to start a WAR soon. Obama does not have the guts to stop them. BUSH DID! Iran will have nukes soon. And Obama will not stop them. And he has told Israel to not do anything to Iran if they start up their nuclear programs again. In 4 year Israel maybe a hole in the earth and Obama will not and does not have the guts to stop them. 1 Nuke going off in Israel will kill as many as Hitler did in the Death camps! With Obama as President the world is not as safe as it was during the Bush years .

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On 5/29/09 at 2:48 PM, Sledman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Exactly how did Bush create this depression? He didn't. The corrupt self serving MBA whiz kids manipulted the fincancial system. Nearsighted greedy CEO's who shipped out manufacturing & tech jobs to Mexico, China & India certainly played a role. They made bad decisions, they should hang for it. Sure, Bush is clearly at fault for not killing Bin Laden but Bush alone did not create the depression. Kudos to Obama for trying to change what needs to be changed but the debt he is racking up can never be paid off & will have more long term problems than what we have now.

Libs, lighten up.

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On 5/29/09 at 3:35 PM, Loreeross wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

The economic mess sarted with Clinton and free trade and it won't get any better as long as free trade keeps American jobs going out of the country. Neither democrats or republicans are to blame as this politcal brain cramp crosses party lines. And none of the politicians even mention backing out of these idiotic treatys where we have to play nice to countries that subsidize industries and do not have to deal with expensive unions. It is neither free or fair trade, it is transferring American wealth to third world countries.

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On 5/29/09 at 5:32 PM, newportres wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"Mabye Pres. Obama wouldn't have to clean up this mess had MR BUSH not created it!. "

LOL the Left loves to repeat this lie hoping everyone will forget it was their "buy a house for every deadbeat no matter what the cost" program that destroyed the housing market and brought the house of cards down.

Now obama plans to build a new one with fake money he had printed special for the occasion.

It really is a wonder the clown didn't put his own face on the monopoly money he made.

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On 5/29/09 at 11:47 PM, HeadedSouth666 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If all you Obama people can only think he is acting in the best interest of our country then I will admit we are done as a nation. How can anyone think we are going in the right direction? We are going backrupt. Think about this. The United States of America has no cash at all for the next natural or man made disaster. Remember those terroist? Yea you can bet they will be back and your Obama has made shure we will be at a disadvandage when it happens. How can we support a nimrod that spends us beyond hope. And yes, I voted for Bush but his spending P O ed me and Obama has a new calculater that won't quit. We need to stop it, PEOPLE!

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