Billions headed for Georgia

The $787 billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress last week —- with the final Senate vote coming late Friday night —- represents one of the largest appropriations by Congress in the nation’s history. After the president signs the bill —- House Resolution 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 —- the federal government will shower billions of dollars of aid onto Georgia in the form of grants for new roads and bridges, mass transit, local schools and more. Staff writer Aaron Gould Sheinin scoured the legislation to find its impacts on Georgia. The results of his reporting appear below. The “nationwide” listings are largely drawn from the House Rules Committee’s Web site.

ROADS, BRIDGES, TRANSIT

Nationwide: $27.5 billion to build or modernize roads and bridges, creating 835,000 jobs. States must obligate at least half of this funding within 120 days; $8.4 billion for transit and $8 billion for high-speed rail.

For Georgia: More than $1.01 billion for highways and bridges; $168 million for transit capital grants; MARTA could benefit, as could local commuter bus systems. Possibility exists that light rail could see a boost as well. Planned projects still to be determined.

Stakeholder: Frank B. Mitchell Jr. owns a Marietta-based construction consulting firm and warns people shouldn’t expect it to be an economic fix-all.

“It will be good for the economy, but it will take time for it to work its way through the economy,” the owner of Time & Cost Managers said.

Less than a year ago he had six people on the payroll. Now it’s just one other person and himself.

Since a sizable portion of the stimulus package would go toward rebuilding infrastructure, he said he could see new staff again on an as-needed, per-project basis.

ENERGY

Nationwide: An array of loan guarantees, tax incentives and other measures to promote energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy:

> $11 billion toward a “smart electricity grid” to reduce waste; > $6.3 billion in state energy efficiency and clean energy grants; > $6 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; > $5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes > $4.5 billion to make federal buildings more energy-efficient; > $2 billion in grants for advanced batteries for electric vehicles > Three-year extension of the production tax credit for electricity derived from wind (through 2012) and for electricity derived from biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas, waste-to-energy, and marine facilities (through 2013). > Grants of up to 30 percent of the cost of building a solar energy facility or other renewable energy plant. > Tax credit of up to $7,500 for families that buy hybrid plug-in cars.

For Georgia: Will be determined by legislative action and efforts by private companies and homeowners to apply for credits and grants, but $97.8 million is included for weatherization.

Stakeholder: Michelle Conlon is the business performance manager for OneWorld Sustainable, a Georgia firm that installs solar-energy systems in businesses and homes. Georgia, she said, has fallen behind other states in making sustainable energy affordable. She hopes the federal stimulus changes that.

“Most of our work has been outside the state of Georgia, but having the policy at the federal level will help us address this to benefit people directly. Georgia will finally be able to get on the train.”

EDUCATION

Nationwide: $44.5 billion to prevent cutbacks or layoffs, school modernization, or other purposes; $15.6 billion to increase Pell Grants by $500; additional $200 million for work-study programs; $1.1 billion for Early Head Start and $1 billion for Head Start; $13 billion for Title I; $12 billion for special education grants.

For Georgia: $420 million for Title I schools; $333 million for special education; some of the $1.28 billion the state will receive in fiscal stabilization funds will also go to education, specifically for modernization and renovation.

Stakeholder: Mark Schnetzka, sales manager, Georgia Trane, which builds and installs HVAC systems. Much of its business is in schools and hospitals. “Any construction money being funded for our schools is going to benefit us,” Schnetzka said. “We have two manufacturing plants in the state, and as the construction market grows, obviously then production needs to grow, and we likely would hire to meet that need.”

Stakeholder: Roger Gillis of Waycross lost his job at America Online two years ago. Now 40, he works at a local prison making less than half what he earned at AOL. He decided to go to college to earn his four-year degree in law enforcement, but he still must work full time. His daughter Christina, meanwhile, is also in school and participates in a work-study program at college and waits tables.

“It’s at the point where every little bit helps,” Gillis said. “My family and I used to eat out all the time. We went shopping. We had money. Now, everything is so difficult.”

EXTENDING BROADBAND

> $7 billion for extending broadband services to rural and inner-city communities.

TAX RELIEF

Nationwide: Refundable tax credit of up to $400 per worker ($800 per couple filing jointly) with income limits of $100,000 single, $200,000 married filing jointly. This would take the form of reductions in federal withholding from paychecks; the average wage earner would see about $13 extra per week. The bill also:

> Expands the child tax credit > Exempts 26 million families from the alternative minimum tax. > Increases the higher education tax credit to $2,500. > Offers a tax credit of up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers. > Grants a deduction for state and local sales taxes on new vehicles.

Stakeholder: Diana Sauvigne, Realtor with Prudential Georgia Realty in Atlanta, believes the credit for first-time-buyers will free up the local market.

“It really seems like our delegation really understands that without a housing recovery, an overall economic recovery is really impossible because it affects everybody’s life,” Sauvigne said.

Will this bill do that?

“Absolutely, there’s no doubt in my mind,” she said.

Stakeholder: Allyson Conrad, a Realtor with Re/Max Greater Atlanta, sees it much differently. When the Senate adopted U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s amendment offering a $15,000 tax credit for all home buyers, she said the optimism was real.

“That got a lot of excitement in the office,” Conrad said. “But just for first-time home buyers? That’s pretty much worthless.”

THE UNEMPLOYED AND THE POOR

Nationwide: $40 billion to extend unemployment benefits by up to 33 weeks and to increase payments by $25 per week; $19.9 billion for food stamps, increasing food stamp benefits by more than 13 percent; $100 million to help local community organizations provide food and shelter; $3.95 billion for job training

For Georgia: Estimated $220 million in additional unemployment insurance trust fund dollars.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Nationwide:

> $3 billion for the National Science Foundation for basic research in science and engineering.

> $1.6 billion for the Energy Department for research on climate science, biofuels, high-energy physics, nuclear physics and fusion energy sciences.

> $400 million to support high-risk, high-payoff research into energy sources.

> $400 million for NASA to put more of its scientists to work on climate change research.

HEALTH CARE

Nationwide:

> $87 billion in additional federal matching funds to help states maintain their Medicaid programs.

> $24.7 billion to pay 65 percent of the COBRA premiums for laid-off workers for up to nine months. Applies to people laid off between September 2008 and January 2009.

> $19 billion to accelerate adoption of electronic records systems by doctors and hospitals.

> $8.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health to expand research into such diseases as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer and heart disease.

> $1.1 billion for “comparative effectiveness” research to help doctors determine the effectiveness of different treatments.

> $1 billion for a new Prevention and Wellness Fund.

For Georgia: $1.73 billion for increased Medicaid payments. State must use same eligibility standards and procedures that were in place July 1.

ACCOUNTABILITY INC.

According to a late draft of the bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act builds in at least $87.5 million to pay for monitoring of the program, and investigations as necessary, by various inspectors general spread across the departments of government. The most expensive department is agriculture, with an outlay of $22.5 million for the inspector general.

HISTORY BUFF

U.S. Rep. Steve Austria (R-Ohio) told the Columbus Dispatch last week: “When Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression. He tried to borrow and spend, he tried to use the Keynesian approach, and our country ended up in a Great Depression. That’s just history.” Roosevelt took office more than three years after the Great Depression commenced.

APOLOGIES TO THE FISH

Says the bill: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this Act may be used by any State or local government, or any private entity, for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, or swimming pool.”

STIMULATING THE DEAD

The bill calls for $50 million for “national cemetery administration, for monument and memorial repairs, including energy projects.”

EXCESSITIVES

Sen. Chris Dodd slipped in some tough provisions limiting executive pay (see story below), right after the news broke that Merrill Lynch paid out bonuses last year of more than $1 million to 696 executives. The payments came just before Bank of America closed its purchase of Merrill.

VERBAL STIMULI

“The American people understand that the legislation we send to the president’s desk will not solve this crisis overnight. We cannot say for certain when this crisis will end, but we do know for certain that this is when recovery must begin.”

—- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada

“The bill that was about jobs, jobs, jobs has turned into a bill that’s about spending, spending, spending.”

—- House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio, who dumped a copy of the 1,071-page bill to the floor in a gesture of contempt.

“If someone had begun spending $1 million a day —- $1 million every day —- when Christ was born, we would not yet be in 2009 to the full cost of this bill.”

—- U.S. Rep. David Vitter (R-La.)

“The economy is so bad right now Barack Obama’s new slogan is ‘Spare Change You Can Believe In.’ ”

—- Jay Leno

“Here’s how it’s going to work: On March 30, every American will receive a roll of 30 $100 Obama stimulus coins. You can use them to trade with friends or use them in a machine to buy stimulus nutrition bars.”

—- Jimmy Kimmel

STIMULATING LEAD

From the AP: Critics of the $787 billion economic stimulus program are not really balking over caulking: They just don’t think pouring substantially more money into home weatherization will give a quick kick to the reeling economy.

Sources: U.S. House of Representatives, Federal Funds Information for States, Associated Press