House passes economic stimulus

Giffords: Plan will help Arizona budget woes

By Bill Hess
Herald/Review, January 29, 2009

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the stimulus package on Wednesday has more than $6.5 billion for Arizona and will help ease the state’s budget shortfall, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said.

In voting for the bill, the Democrat said, “Inaction was not acceptable.”

The legislation in the House passed by a vote of 244-188. The Senate has a different stimulus proposal it is considering.

“By infusing into the state more than $250 million for education, nearly $2 billion for Medicaid and other funds the state’s budget will be helped,” said Giffords, who represents the 8th Congressional District, which includes all of Cochise County.

State legislators are facing a $1.6 billion deficit for the current fiscal year, and an estimated $3 billion in the 2010 fiscal year.

Additional stimulus money is for highway and bridges, assisting unemployment and training programs and other needs, Giffords said during a phone interview with the Herald/Review.

Local communities that have provided a list of “shovel ready” road projects to the Arizona Department of Transportation could see some of the nearly $600 million that will be provided to the state, if the bill makes it through both chambers of Congress, she said.

The proposed multi-billion-dollar stimulus package in the House also includes money for federal programs that can bring funding the states, she said.

For example, NASA is supposed to get $500,000 to be used for grants and that could continue to help the University of Arizona, which has been a recipient of such funds in the past.

The university receives 22 percent of its federal grant money from NASA, and Giffords sees no reason that will not continue.

The proposed Senate bill has $1.5 billion recommended for NASA grants, she said.

Giffords’ husband is a NASA astronaut. But on Wednesday, she also was named the chair of the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee.

The House leadership has said ensuring the stimulus package is on President Barack Obama’s desk is a priority and that the chamber will remain in session until the House and Senate agree to a final bill.

The congresswoman, now in her second term, sees that happening by mid-February.

Giffords said the House version of the bill requires transparency in how the federal funds are spent by recipients to ensure jobs are created and to track how the money is used to spur growth in the economy.

Track the stimulus money

The stimulus bill, formally titled the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has a dedicated Web site – recovery.gov – that allows citizens to track every penny and to hold federal, state and local officials accountable.

Key requirements of the House proposal are:

• A quarterly presidential report on the status of the economy.

• A public notification of contracts and grants awarded to be published online to include a description of what is funded, the purpose and the total cost.

• A review of recovery funding by the Government Accountability Office.

• An agreement by the president and congressional leaders that the legislation won’t contain specific earmarks.

What would Arizona get?

Here is a summary of money that Arizona would get from the economic stimulus package being voted on Wednesday in the House of Representatives. The Senate is considering a separate stimulus bill.

• Highways and bridges: $586.5 million

• Mass transit: $89.8 million

• Other rail: $5 million

• Wastewater treatment: $39.2 million

• Low-income energy assistance: $4 million

• Head Start: $12.1 million

• School modernization: $390.4 million

• Education technology grants: $18.7 million

• State budget aid: $1.3 billion

Source: The numbers are based on tables released by the House Appropriations Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Compiled by the Associated Press.