Massachusetts will receive a significantly larger appropriation of federal government funding as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, city government officials learned Wednesday.
Members of the Boston City Council were briefed about the Act and its implications for Massachusetts in a committee meeting on Wednesday by local experts. The final version of the $787 billion stimulus bill was passed by both houses of Congress on Feb. 13 and signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Massachusetts is expected to receive $6 to $9 billion from the stimulus Gov. Deval Patrick announced to the Greater Boston Chamber of Congress Wednesday, according to a Feb. 18 Boston Globe article.
This will help begin shoring the $6.5 billion gap in the state budget. Patrick announced new taxes and fees that will raise $587 million in an Emergency Recovery Plan Jan. 28 that also cut $1.6 billion from the 2010 fiscal year state budget. He first began cuts in October with a $1.4 billion reduction from the 2009 fiscal year budget.
Based on preliminary numbers, City Hall Federal Relations Officer Jake Sullivan told council members he estimates about $800 million of the $6 to $9 billion from the stimulus will go toward the Commonwealth for education.
“Normally, we receive $700,000 to $800,000,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to potentially see 10 times what we normally take.
“Around 80 percent of the money earmarked has to be specifically used for education [in Massachusetts] with the remaining 18 to 20 percent to be used for public safety and other governmental purposes,” Sullivan said.
Other allotments to the state include $1 billion for infrastructure and more funds for university research, according to the Globe article.
Boston Director of Intergovernmental Relations Michael Contompasis told the city council that money for education will also come out of government grants.
“There will be competitive grants that come out of another pocket of money that the school district can apply for,” Contompasis said.
Application for these grants can be completed on both state and federal levels, Contompasis said.
“Some of the money is being held by the new Secretary of Education [Arne Duncan] at the federal level,” Contompasis said. “That money is supposed to be used for school districts that are working to get their act together in terms of improving academic quality.”
While there currently are no clear cut guidelines, Contompasis said states must first use the money to address underfunded school districts, and any left over money “can be used for school modernization.”
The nationwide stimulus plan will include a $400 tax break for individuals and $800 for couples, and is estimated to save and create 79,000 jobs in Massachusetts of the 3.5 million jobs it will save and create nationwide, according to estimates released by the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisers Chairwoman Christina Romer and vice presidential economist Jared Bernstein Feb. 17.
The stimulus bill will also provide “a significant investment for the first time ever in the Energy Efficiency [and Conservation] Block Grant,” Sullivan said. The grant, signed into law in 2007, distributes money to counties and cities to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Under this grant, Massachusetts could receive an estimated $5 million in funding for energy efficiency, Sullivan said.
“Cities have really started to take charge of their energy profile and are looking to save energy in the long term,” Sullivan said.
Mass. will receive $6B to $9B from stimulus bill
Published: Thursday, February 19, 2009
Updated: Thursday, February 19, 2009
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