This month marks the passing of one year since President Obama signed the Stimulus package also known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In addition to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) issuing a press release, the Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding also heard testimony from several agencies on their ARRA awards and expenditures and the Comptroller has updated their stimulus tracking reports.
Comptroller Updated Reports – all data was updated February 14, 2010
Stimulus Tracking Reports – The stimulus tracking reports track the federal stimulus money three ways: Summary of Funds Received, By State Agency, and By Federal Agency.
Data Charts – provide a visual summary of weekly Texas stimulus activity.
Money Awarded by Category – shows how "Awarded" federal funds are being distributed across various spending categories.
TxDOT Release
In observance of the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) state transportation officials have obligated approximately $1.9 billion of the $2.25 billion Texas received for transportation projects.
To date, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has spent approximately $389 million for highways and bridges, public transportation, and general aviation.
ARRA, signed by the President February 17, 2009 required the first 50 percent of all highway and bridge funding, approximately $775 million, be obligated within 120 days from the date states received apportionments and the remaining 50 percent within 12 months of that date, March 1. Texas met the 120-day obligation requirement two weeks before the deadline.
“We worked diligently with our transportation partners around the state to meet the ARRA requirements and deadlines to utilize these funds that will advance projects to completion,” said Amadeo Saenz, TxDOT’s Executive Director.
In addition to highway and bridge funds, ARRA also provided $67.5 million for transportation enhancement projects, which includes hike and bike trails, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, rehabilitation and operation of historic transportation buildings, structures, or facilities and much more.
For transit, Texas received $371 million, splitting the funding with $301 million for urban areas and $42 million for rural transit providers. Another $28 million has been made available to cities through a high growth and high density state formula, providing nearly $50 million for rural transit in total.
Texas and other states were required to apply for portions of the $1.1 billion ARRA aviation funds made available on a project specific basis to the Federal Aviation Administration. To date, Texas has received funding for six aviation projects totaling $17 million.
TxDOT also submitted nine applications to High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Grant program (HSIPR), funded by ARRA and the 2009 Appropriations Act. Two projects were awarded for $11 million. Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer, traveling from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth received a $4 million award and Fort Worth’s Trinity Rail Express was awarded $7 million to improve commuter rail service between Fort Worth and Dallas. Both of the Texas grant awards directly impact existing passenger rail in the state, allowing existing lines to travel at higher speeds or avoid congestion.
Texas received $7.2 million in discretionary funding for the construction of a new 28-car ferry vessel for TxDOT’s Port Aransas Ferry System in Nueces County. The project is in the preliminary stage.
"Texas is leveraging $2.2 billion in stimulus funds to build more than $3.5 billion in multimodal transportation projects. We've met our goals and we're for the Recovery Act. We're keeping Texas moving." said Saenz.
All ARRA funding must be obligated by March 1. To date, TxDOT has approximately $261 million left to obligate and will meet the deadline.
ARRA’s goal to impact jobs helped contractors across the state maintain workforce levels, calming the effects of the recession and allowing the construction industry, as a whole, keeping thousands of workers off the unemployment rolls, which is a significant boost to the economy.
Through the end of 2009, Texas transportation contractors reported more than 2 million payroll hours for workers working on projects funded with ARRA dollars. This translates to approximately 4,000 full time employees.
Additionally, TxDOT took steps to require contractors to provide additional training for workers. These workers will leave job sites with additional skills that can be utilized in the future, increasing the population of skilled workers. This was not an ARRA requirement, but it was something that TxDOT believed was an important element considering the jobs situation in our country.
Texas submitted approximately 100 projects for funding through ARRA’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant program. Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Texas will receive two TIGER grants benefitting Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex transportation projects. The North Texas Tollway Authority will receive $20 million to support a direct Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of approximately $400 million for the State Highway 161 project in Dallas. The North Central Texas Council of Governments will receive $23 million to develop a streetcar service in downtown Dallas.
Federal Stabilization Committee
The Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding heard testimony from several agencies on February 10, 2010. Below are links to the committee website, to the testimony provided, and a small excerpt of the information that was shared with the committee. http://txstimulusfund.com/
Texas Department of Transportation
To date, TxDOT has obligated a total of approximately $1,957,503,573 and has spent a total of approximately $389,742,569 for highways and bridges, public transportation, and general aviation.
The LBB received ARRA expenditure plan submissions from 26 agencies and all Institutions of Higher Education. LBB did not issue any disapprovals
As of January 31, 2010 a total of 74 agencies had been awarded $16.995 billion in ARRA funds.
State Energy Conservation Office – Powerpoint Presentation
The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) noted the primary challenge they face in distributing ARRA funding is the lack of timely guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regarding programmatic policy. The delayed determination from DOE regarding both environment and budgetary approval of projects has been the primary impeder to SECO’s ability to award projects that have been scored and approved by SECO office. Currently, there is over $63 million in projects that are awaiting federal approval.
The report from the Governor’s office argues the following: The administrative burden on Texas state agencies remains very high; the federal government makes it difficult for the state to coordinate ARRA efforts; the federal government continues to provide untimely and inconsistent guidance on the use of ARRA funds; and the federal government has significantly modified how ARRA recipients should calculate jobs so that jobs information for different reporting quarters is not comparable.
Texas Education Agency – 1512 Comparison Chart
The state is waiting for approval of State Fiscal Stabilization (SFSF) Phase II Grant that was submitted by Governor Perry to the U.S. Department of Education on January 11, 2010. The state is waiting for approval of the State Longitudinal Data System II (SLDS II) Grant that was submitted by the Texas Education Agency to the U.S. Department on December 4, 2009. The Texas Education Agency will apply for the School Improvement Grants by February 8, 2010 – the state is eligible to receive almost $286 million.
Texas Department of Health and Human Services – 1512 Comparison Chart
To date the following stimulus funds have been spent: HHSC $2,003,216,680 – DADS $701,330,115 – DSHS $16,184,282 – DFPS $42,917,163 – DARS $8,552,352. (Amounts include Sec. 1512 and non-sec. 1512).
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
The Department is administering approximately $1.16 billion in Recovery Act funds. To date the Department has expended $33,350,463.
The Commission has been cumulatively awarded $415,671,386 and expended $124,346,228 as of January 29, 2010.
Texas Department of Agriculture
Total funding spent as of the end of January was: $1,553,271.45 for ARRA Aquaculture Assistance Grants programs; $1,373,402.09 for ARRA Emergency Food Assistance Program (Administrative Costs); $8,169,424.96 for ARRA Emergency Food Assistance Program (Food Commodities); $7,083,518.79 for ARRA Equipment Assistance to Schools.
The General Land Office (GLO) has been conditionally awarded an ARRA grant for the construction of the veterans nursing home in Tyler, Texas with the total award amount $17,448,280. The GLO has a total award for $5,148,369 to restore 328 acres of wetland habitat in West Galveston Bay using dredging and placement of sediment material. The construction bid was awarded in January and construction began February 1, 2010.
The Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) received $427,300 from the National Endowment for the Arts from the Arts and ARRA which has been distributed to Texas organizations by TCA through grants. TCA successfully submitted a proposal to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in January 2010 and received official notification of a grant awarded of $1 million as a pass-through grant to the Texas Cultural Trust Council (TCTC). TCA has sought and received instruction from the LBB on distribution of these funds.
Office of the Attorney General
On May 21, 2009 the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was awarded $1,479,141. Of those funds, as based on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and in conjunction with the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, the OAG ICAC, in accordance with the grant award allocated $350,000 in subgrants to support the Houston Metro ICAC activities.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
The following projects and award amounts were highlighted: Leaking Underground Storage Tank – $10,779,000; Water Quality Management Planning – $1,809,000; Clean Diesel School Bus Program – $1,730,000; and Texas Emission Reduction Program – $13,165,683. The TCEQ also noted in regards to the Clean Diesel School Bus Program that awarding funds to school districts on the TCEQ’s wait list has been challenging. School districts are hesitant to accept ARRA reporting requirements. Furthermore, since applications have been on the wait list for a year and state statute requires the retrofit device be installed in a bus with a useful life of at least five years, some of the older buses are now scheduled to be replaced and can no longer be retrofitted.
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has been delegated administrative responsibility by the Office of the Governor to manage the Government Service Fund (GSF) which totals $723,165,683.
Texas Public Utility Commission
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) expects to receive $3,067,514 in stimulus funds from ARRA. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has provided two grants. One awarded directly to PUC for $1,370,056 and the other awarded through SECO of which as a sub-recipient the PUC received $1,697,458.
Department of Rural Community Affairs – Ongoing ARRA Projects Chart
As of February 1, 2010 $531,965 has been received/invoiced for Texas Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) ARRA fund.
As of December 31, 2009 the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) has executed funding agreements in the amount of $186,096,130 from the total available amount of $339,777,900.