Hohbach-Lewin's Stimulus Watch

California High Speed Rail Stimulus Funds Update

Kevin Morton — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:32:53 +0000

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week to discuss the upcoming ARRA funding application for High Speed Rail projects. Guidlines on the application are expected to be released on June 17th. California is well positioned to receive funding from the Federal Stimulus Bill, because of the $10M voters approved last fall (prop 1A) and because Schwarzenegger recently signed AB 3034 which clears the way for public/private partenship for the High Speed Rail Project.

Bay Area Economic Recovery Work Plan

Kevin Morton — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:07:26 +0000

Straight from the Work Plan:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 5, 2009 —The Bay Area Council Economic Institute today released the Bay Area Economic Recovery Workplan, which coordinates the region’s response to federal stimulus funding opportunities. The Workplan, requested in late February 2009 by the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BT&H) to help guide the allocation of Federal stimulus funds, is one of twelve being prepared by California regions. The Bay Area is positioning itself to maximize its share of California’s more than $31 billion in direct federal stimulus funds and an additional $20 billion of federal stimulus funds potentially available to California that will be competed for in Washington.

Here is a link to the full report. It is grouped in seven categories: transportation, water, housing, business development, human capital/workforce, energy/climate, and science & innovation. I am in the process of trying to hunt down the other 11.

Vacant San Francisco GSA Building to Receive Overhaul.

Kevin Morton — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:48:28 +0000

As part of the General Services Administration’s allocation under the ARRA the now vacant Federal Building at 50 U.N. Plaza will receive $121m for modernization. Funds for the project include money for both seismic upgrades as well as MEP improvements.

GSA Releases Proposed ARRA Project List

Kevin Morton — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:57:16 +0000

The General Service Administration (GSA) was allocated $5.5B under the ARRA. Under GSA’s proposed project list to Congress, California is poised to receive $243.8M or 4.4%. Projects were chosen with two of the fundamental tenets of the stimulus bill in mind; quick job creation and transforming the Federal building stock into high performance green buildings. Project types are divided between new construction (including both buildings and port facilities) and green building modernizations of existing Federal Facilities. I have listed California specific projects below. Here is a link for the complete GSA list.

Federal Buildings

Bakersfield U.S. Courthouse – $31 million

Ports

Otay Mesa U.S. Land Port of Entry – $21.3 million

Funding for green building “full and partial building modernization projects”

50 United Nations Plaza, San Francisco – $121 million
U.S. Courthouse, Los Angeles – $4.4 million
Philip Burton Federal Building Courthouse, San Francisco – $7.4 million
Edward J. Schwartz Federal Office Building & Courthouse, San Diego – $5.4 million
Ronald Dellums Federal Building, Oakland – $8.1 million
Federal Building & Courthouse, Fresno – $3.6 million
Edward R. Roybal Federal Building & Courthouse, Los Angeles – $8.5 million
300 North L.A. Federal Building, Los Angeles – $15 milion
Menlo Park Science Center, Menlo Park – $6.9 million
Richard H. Chambers U.S. Courthouse, Pasadena – $477,000
Niguel Chet Holifield Federal Building, Laguna – $2.6 million

Tax Credit Bonds for Schools

Kevin Morton — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:58:35 +0000

Tax Credit Bonds for Schools allow states or local entities to issue tax credit bonds to fund school construction, rehabilitation, repair, or site acquisition. The bonds will have the interest paid by the federal government in the form of a tax credit and the principal is paid by the issuing entity. Federal Funds allocated for this will be split equally between FY 2009 and FY 2010. The State will be allocated an amount proportional to ESEA section 1124 (roughly $1.1B/year for CA). The State will then allocate approximately 40% of the bonding capacity to large LEAs (those LEAs in the state that are among the 100 largest LEAs in nation or are one of 25 designated by the US Secretary of Education) in the state pursuant to data from the most recent fiscal year.

Camp Parks to get $8M

Kevin Morton — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:17:33 +0000

Home to the Army’s 91st reserve division, Camp Parks, located in Dublin is set to receive $8M from the ARRA. The money will be divided between rennovating both barracks and more permanent housing.

California Now Has a State Recovery Website

Kevin Morton — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:16:16 +0000

California has launched its website to detail where the ARRA money is going at the state level. Governor Schwarzennegar is quoted as saying, “My administration is committed to working with President Obama to develop strategies to revitalize our economy, put the nation on a path to energy security and help our citizens during this difficult time.”

California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) Releases Stimulus Report

Kevin Morton — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:55:13 +0000

CA’s LAO has released a report as part of its 2009-10 Budget Analysis Series titled “Federal Economic Stimulus Package: Fiscal Effect on California.” Within the report legislative analyst Mac Taylor presents his assessment of what the State of California stands to receive from the Stimulus Bill. It also offers recommendations to the state legislature to maximize the money that CA will receive through funds allocated by the ARRA. There is a significant portion of money that CA can’t say with certainty it will receive, because the money will not be distributed through the Sacremento, but allocated directly to eligible recipients such as municipal housing authorities or LEAs.

About half the States Have Links From Recovery.gov

Kevin Morton — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:53:04 +0000

Washington and Oregon both have links from the Federal ARRA website; however, CA does not, although certain California departments, like the CDE have at least started to discuss the impacts the ARRA will have on California’s education system. Quite frankly though, the information on the CDE’s website is still not specific on how or where the potential school modernization money will be allocated. To their credit, it is still a bit unclear how the Federal government would like states to spend their percentage of the state fiscal stabilization fund “which shall be used by the governor for public safety and other government services which may include education and school facility modernization, renovation and repair.” You can email the U.S. Department of Education with your questions at State.Fiscal.Fund@ed.gov. The U.S. Dept. of Ed. has published guidelines about the 18.2 percent granted towards potential school modernization.

$27.5b in Highway Infrastructure Investment funds Have Been Allocated

Kevin Morton — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:41:47 +0000

Within the ARRA, $27.5b was assigned in Highway Infrastructure Investment funds. Of this, $105,000,000 has been set aside for the Puerto Rico Highway Program and $45,000,000 has been set aside for the Territorial Highway Program, $550,000,000 has been set aside for Federal Lands and Indian reservations, $20,000,000 has been set aside for On-the-Job Training/Supportive Services, $60,000,000 has been set aside for capital expenditures eligible under Section 147 of Title 23, U.S.C. (Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities), and $40,000,000 has been set aside for oversight by the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration of projects and activities under these appropriations.

That leaves $26.66b to be appropriated to the states. The funds are divided into three areas: Mandatory Transportation Enhancements, Funds for Population Specific Areas (my term), and Funds for Use in Any Area.

Mandatory Transportation Enhancements (3%): These funds are set aside for projects such as sidewalk repairs (or additions), adding bicycle paths, or beautification projects. By definition they do not involve vehicle or mass transit projects.

Funds for Population Specific Areas (30%): Subdivided into three portions, a certain amount of each state’s appropriation must go to areas that fall under three categories: >200,000 people (urban), less than or equal to 200,000 people (suburban), less than 5000 people (rural).

Funds for Use in Any Area (67%): These are funds that states can spend at their discretion on Highway Infrastructure Projects as outlined in the existing cited legislation.

For a detailed explanation of how the money was appropriated click here (it relies mainly on existing FHA fund distribution procedures). For a complete state allocation table click here.

Here is a Table showing CA, OR, and WA with urban area amounts allocations listed below.

To insure prompt and timely infusion of this money into the American economy states have 120 days to sub-allocate the money and essentially start spending it. If after the first 120 days, a state has not sub-allocated the money or any portion thereof, the Federal government will take back the money and redistribute it based on the same initial criteria but with including states that have, in essence, forfeited their initial allocations.