Tom Clapper on the Oklahoma State Senate staff periodically sends out very informative emails. Today's was so good, I'm just pasting ght whole thing below. He has listed his attributions at the bottom of the text.
“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides over $300 billion in potential funding for states to deliver the services their citizens need, while also addressing an unprecedented fiscal crisis. States need to access, utilize, and account for (federal) funding as quickly and efficiently as possible. http://www.staterecovery.org/ is a service of The Council of State Governments (CSG) designed to help states: rapidly decipher potential funding opportunities and share best practices by tracking how the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government are responding to and impacted by this historic (federal) legislation.
STATE RESPONSES -- Under this heading Oklahoma has its own web page http://www.staterecovery.org/oklahoma#okcertification which reports that Oklahoma has 330 active recovery projects identified for ARRA funding, totaling $1,683,524,738. It lists the five priorities of Governor Brad Henry for Oklahoma’s share of the recovery plan dollars:
●Create new jobs and jump start Oklahoma’s economy;
●Train Oklahoma workers and educate Oklahoma students for the good jobs here today, and the new jobs created tomorrow;
●Rebuild Oklahoma’s infrastructure—roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, mass transit, broadband, health infor-mation technology, and schools;
●Protect struggling Oklahoma families, helping them make ends meet; and
●Invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to create jobs, save money and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
PORTION -- Oklahoma’s portion of the federal stimulus package is just over $2.6 billion and includes (estimates):
●$37 million--Workforce
●$31 million—Public Safety
●$316 million—Education
●$63 million—Environment
●$78 million—Low income housing, assistance, grants
●$107 million--Energy
●$542 million--Transportation
●$578 million--Budget stabilization
●$950 million—Health and Human Services
GOVERNOR -- Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry issued Executive Order 2009—14 on March 11, 2009, establishing the ARRA Coordinating Council. Governor Henry appointed State Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage to oversee the stimulus process, particularly the expendi-ture of federal funds. Secretary of State M. Susan Savage will track the initiative and obtain information about federal guide-lines and potential uses for stimulus dollars. Several state agencies, including the Office of State Finance, Office of the State Treasurer, and Office of the State Auditor and Inspector are publishing a newsletter on the State Finance web site http://www.ok.gov/OSF/documents/ARRANewsletter_sc_03062009.doc.
FLEXIBLE FUNDING -- Addressing the question ‘How are states using the $8.8 billion available in the Government Ser-vices Fund of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund?’ the overall breakdown is:
●Public Safety—28.62%
●Elementary/Secondary Education—14.63%
●Public Institutions of Higher Education (IHE)—7.85%
●Repair of Public School Facilities--.8%
●Repair of IHE—2.62%
●Medicaid—2.9%
●Public Assistance—1.3%
●Transportation--.9%
●Other—19.24%
●Undetermined—21.15%
Uses outlined for the 19.24% ‘Other’ includes:
●Administration—15.54%
●Infrastructure—13.58%
●Economic Development—12.04%
●Government Services--12.02%
●Health/Human Services—11.95$
●Housing—9.2%
●Local Support—9.26%
●Scholarship/Education--8.32%
●Innovation/Technology—5.34%
●Agriculture—2.57%
OKLAHOMA intended use of these funds are as follows:
●Public Safety—5.89%
●Elementary/Secondary Education—32.79% (excluding repair of facilities)
●Public Institutes of Higher Education—29.47% (excluding repairs of facilities)
●Repair of public schools—2.85%
●Medicaid—9.5%
●Public Assistance—2.67%
●Other—16.83% (Infrastructure)”
The above was directly quoted, abstracted and/or condensed from material found at http://www.staterecovery.org/ a service of The Council of State Governments http://www.csg.org/. For more infor-mation please contact CSG at staterecovery@csg.org or Bvoit@csg.org for Oklahoma information.
Our team has been feverishly researching the application and reporting processes involved for organizations to receive funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or for short, Recovery Funds. Many of our customers, from all walks of the Social Service spectrum, are anticipating receipt of much-needed dollars to help augment their traditional funding sources (which, of course, have decreased dramatically over the last 9 months or so). While the dollars are surely welcome, they come with a “catch”—reporting requirements to: 1) ensure visibility into the prudent use of the dollars; and 2)convey the impact the money creates on communities in terms of new jobs, education improvements, blight eradication, public health advances, etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.clienttrack.com/blog/2009/07/14/american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act/?utm_source=oklahoma-womens-network&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=arra