DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
recovery.dc.gov
As of October 13, 2009:
| Agency Reported Data: | | Rank: |
| Funds Announced | $2,368,132,749 | 33 |
| Funds Available | $2,721,988,807 | 30 |
| Funds Paid Out | $400,876,188 | 41 |
| | | |
| Recipient Reported Data: | | Rank: |
| Number of Awards | 115 | 16 |
| Funds Awarded | $562,322,305 | 7 |
| Funds Awarded Per Capita | $950 | 1 |
| Funds Received | $22,448,456 | 25 |
| Jobs Created / Saved | 370 | 26 |
| Unemployment Rate | 11.4 | 7 |
Notes: All Rankings are from Highest to Lowest. For example, a ranking of15 for “Funds Announced” means that the state had the 15th highest amount offunds announced. A ranking of 15 for the unemployment rate means that thisstate has the 15th highest unemployment rate.
Terms defined by http://www.recovery.gov/
Recipient Reported Data: These data are based on data submitted by federalcontract recipients to www.federalreporting.govbetween Oct. 1 and Oct. 10, 2009. On Oct. 30, 2009, the final recipientfederal contract data and the final data on grants and loans will be available.It is collected and updated quarterly.
Agency Reported Data: These data are based on weekly Financial and ActivityReports filed by federal agencies receiving Recovery Act Funds.
Funds Announced: Funds that have been publicly announced as availableto entities outside of the federal government. Not all available fundsare announced publicly. For example, the funds going to a project startedprior to the Recovery Act that are commingled with the project’s Recovery fundswill not be announced publicly before being made available to arecipient. The Funds Announced figure should not be viewed as the totalfunding that an agency has made available.
Funds Available(Obligation): The term used todescribe when an agency informs the public of the release of money torecipients either immediately or in the future.
Funds Awarded: This is the amount of contract dollars that will bemade available to recipients.
Funds Paid Out: Funds that have been released from a federal agencyto a recipient.
Funds Received:The amount of money each recipient received from a federal award.
Recent Updates:
According to a July report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the District of Columbia is at the top of the list when it comes to obligating ARRA funds. States and territories were required to obligate a certain percentage of funds within 120 days after they were granted. According the District’s Recovery Web site, the D.C. Department of Transportation exceeded the require 50 percent and obligated 95 percent of the amount that they had been granted.
Many stimulus-funded transportation projects are underway in the District including the repaving of I-395 and a project to improve pedestrian safety via the building of sidewalks. The District received close to $4 million in stimulus funds to build 200 miles of sidewalks that have been prioritized by order of pedestrian demand, according to the D.C. Web site. Sidewalks are being built in high-trafficked areas such as schools, recreational centers, and commercial and public transit locations. Through this project, the District will improve pedestrian and traffic safety while also benefiting both older and disabled residents that can take advantage of the new sidewalks.
The District is also taking advantage of the stimulus funds in order to become greener. The District was recently awarded over $8 million in recovery money to weatherize additional low-income houses. According to the city’s recovery site, these funds will allow them to weatherize an additional 785 homes over the usual 400 that they would do in a period of time.
Councilman Kwame Brown announced at the end of June that the Council had approved legislation requiring the District’s Department of Employment Services to publically post all jobs created by stimulus funding. While the numbers of jobs created may not show a large impact immediately, there are signs that more jobs will be created down the road. The District recently broken ground on a new bus garage to be built and $30 million in stimulus funding is being put toward the project. According to a Washington Post article, the garage, which will not be completed until 2012, will employee over 600 people.
Even with the rush of stimulus money into the District, the District Council were forced to propose sales tax and cigarette tax increases along with significant decreases in education funding and hiring freezes of city workers such as police officers. Also, it was just announced that because of the Council’s proposed cuts, District schools will have to cut as much as $40 million by October. This scenario will likely lead to teacher layoffs, which in turn should lead to enlarged class sizes. Clearly, while the stimulus funding helped to close the gap and create jobs in some areas, the District is still hurting financially.