GEORGIA

stimulus.georgia.gov

As of October 13, 2009: 

Agency Reported Data:

 

Rank:

Funds Announced

$6,572,057,995

10

Funds Available

$6,393,089,500

11

Funds Paid Out

$3,011,877,672

10

 

 

 

Recipient Reported Data:

 

Rank:

Number of Awards

219

5

Funds Awarded

$209,482,928

20

Funds Awarded Per Capita

$22

38

Funds Received

$19,196,775

28

Jobs Created / Saved

1046

7

Unemployment Rate

10.1

14


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 federal contract recipients to www.federalreporting.gov between Oct. 1 and Oct. 10, 2009.  On Oct. 30, 2009, the final recipient federal 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 Activity Reports filed by federal agencies receiving Recovery Act Funds.

Funds Announced: Funds that have been publicly announced as available to entities outside of the federal government.  Not all available funds are announced publicly. For example, the funds going to a project started prior to the Recovery Act that are commingled with the project’s Recovery funds will not be announced publicly before being made available to a recipient.  The Funds Announced figure should not be viewed as the total funding that an agency has made available.

Funds Available (Obligation): The term used to describe when an agency informs the public of the release of money to recipients either immediately or in the future.  

Funds Awarded: This is the amount of contract dollars that will be made available to recipients. 

Funds Paid Out: Funds that have been released from a federal agency to a recipient. 

Funds Received: The amount of money each recipient received from a federal award.  


Recent Updates:


More than 1,700 people from the University of Georgia have had their salaries paid from federal stimulus funds, Channel 11 said. Thirty-five jobs also were created at the university from research funding. UGA has received $19 million this year of the $1 billion that went to higher education institutions in the state. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has tried to get the White House to release information about the 170 stimulus projects they report have been modified to more efficiently use the federal funding, but so far no information has been released. Reporters also have tried to get a list of projects that were not funded, including filing a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act, but so far the White House has refused to comply.

According to a report from 11Alive News, more than 1,000 teaching jobs have been saved in just three Georgia counties this year due to federal stimulus funding. Figures for the total number of jobs saved across the state are expected in early October. For the 2010 fiscal year, Georgia has budgeted $570 million in education stabilization funds and $140 million in general stabilization funding, which has been allocated to departments such as Corrections and Juvenile Justice.

So far, the Georgia Department of Transportation has committed $312 million and certified 256 projects across the state. The projects are expected to create 25,000 private-sector jobs. In addition, the state is scheduled to receive $1.6 billion and create 3,000 jobs to clean up the Savannah River Site, a former nuclear facility built in the 1950s to produce products for the nation’s fledgling nuclear weapons program.

Additional stimulus funding coming to Georgia includes:

  • $125 million for weatherization of homes.

  • $82 million for the State Energy Program for consumer rebates for energy saving improvements, efficiency upgrades for state and local government buildings and promotion of Energy Star products.

  • $5 million to fund four new Community Health Centers, which will create 235 jobs and serve more than 31,000 patients.

  • Almost $7 million to expand services at 28 existing Community Health Centers, creating or saving 100 jobs and bringing services to an additional 45,000 patients.

  • $8 million to address airport safety and security, increase capacity and mitigate environmental problems.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has given the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority almost $11 million to put solar panels on 45 bus stop shelters in the city. The panels will reduce the temperature at the shelter and produce energy that will be sold to Georgia Power.

Find out how much direct aid Georgia has received

DOT Agency Plans and Reports

Executive Branch

July 9, 2009
According to a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gov. Sonny Perdue is considering starting a new state office that will be charged with keeping track of how federal stimulus money is spent. Although the idea is in its preliminary stages, state officials are trying to figure out where to get the money. The last federal audit, released on July 9, said state resources for the oversight of the federal money "continue to be limited."

May 29, 2009
Gov. Sonny Perdue has told state agencies to expect a 25 percent cut in their budgets for the month of June, reported at article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Perdue said he was being forced to lower state revenue estimates by $274 million for the final month of the 2009 fiscal year, which ends June 30. K-12 education, Perdue said, won’t be cut because federal stimulus money will be used to fill in the budget gaps.

April 22, 2009
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed HB473 on Earth Day, according to a story in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The bill encourages businesses to complete energy-saving upgrades through a grant program that will repay up to 35 percent of the project's cost or a fixed cap. The maximum funding amount for the grant program - which uses funding from the State Energy Program - is $2.5 million annually.

March 5, 2009
In a story in Forbes, Gov. Sonny Perdue said he would accept all of the money being offered to the state through the ARRA funding, despite expressing doubts earlier about money offered for the state's unemployment insurance fund. Perdue, despite saying he would use $1 billion in stimulus funds to help the state dig out of a deep financial hole, has ordered more cuts for state agencies - some of which have reached as high as 10 percent.

State Certification Letter

Press releases

Legislative Branch

March 29, 2009
As the federal government begins pumping billions of stimulus dollars into Georgia, lawmakers here are cracking down on lax enforcement of a state law that prohibits taxpayer funds from going to illegal workers, reports an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The measure would require local governments, state agencies and companies that do public business to show they are using federal databases to make sure they don’t hire illegal workers or provide them with public benefits. If they don’t, local governments would face cuts in state road funding and other penalties, and companies could have contracts revoked.

H.B. 2, initially sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice (R-Norcross), passed the House and was approved by the Senate Public Safety Committee last week with no opposition. Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) told the committee that the bill was necessary because the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act, which Rogers sponsored in 2006, was being ignored by local governments.

March 19, 2009
Although the idea of teacher furloughs is gaining momentum in Georgia, the state budget doesn't look nearly as bleak as was expected, said a story in the Macon Telegraph.

A $1.4 billion infusion from the federal stimulus package saved the state from deep cuts in hospital funding, increasing health-care premiums for employees and cutting funding for school nurses. But for the 2010 budget, which takes effect July 1, legislators were able to avoid a 10 percent cut in Medicaid payouts. Hospitals had said the cuts would cripple them and hit rural facilities particularly hard. Legislators also found $30 million to pay school nurses, a line item that had been a top priority for educators and parents.

Despite that positive news, on Wednesday, budget writers in the House restored deep cuts to Medicaid funding that officials warned could have forced some hospitals to shut their doors, according to the Associated Press.

According to a story in Forbes, the Georgia Senate approved an $18.9 billion mid-year budget Thursday that relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal stimulus money to help offset a huge budget shortfall. The budget counts on $477 million in extra Medicaid money through the federal stimulus bill. It also uses $145 million in federal stimulus dollars to help offset cuts to schools. The budget adopted by the state Senate must be reconciled with the spending plan passed in the House.

 

Legislation related to ARRA

  • HB 473 - Builds upon a tax credit from the last legislative session that allows grants from stimulus money to be used for green construction or retrofitting, rather than being reimbursed using tax credits. Signed by the governor, April 22, 2009.
  • HR 782 - Pledges the members of the legislature to spend stimulus money in a way to create the maximum amount of new jobs, along with encouragement to spend money only on products made in the U.S. whenever possible. Adopted March 26, 2009
  • HR 577 – Urges Congress to focus stimulus efforts on the manufacturing and automotive sectors. Adopted Feb. 25, 2009
  • HR 581 – Urges Congress to consider using stimulus funds to assist poultry growers in Georgia. Introduced March 10, 2009
  • HB 481 - Eliminates state fees for businesses for the period of one year to stimulate job creation and gives businesses tax credits for hiring someone who has been receiving unemployment insurance. Sent to the governor on April 15, 2009 and vetoed by the governor on May 11, 2009.

In the News