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Message From Gary Traylor
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GETTING YOUR SHARE OF THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS?
March 25, 2009 |
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 Due to the large number of inquiries we receive each day about the President's Economic Stimulus Package, I want to provide you with as much information as possible to help ensure your community gets its share of Stimulus funds.
In general, there is a great deal of misinformation circulating about the Stimulus. One common misconception is that all the money will be used to fund a list of projects that exists somewhere, prompting questions like "How do I get my project on THE list?". Actually, most of the Stimulus money will be allocated to projects using existing distribution channels. As an example, the $1 Billion of additional HUD Community Development Block Grant funds is being allocated by formula to Entitlement Communities over 50,000 in population, Urban Counties over 200,000, and to State governments operating nonentitlement CDBG Programs. The specific details regarding opportunities for communities under 50,000 to receive CDBG Stimulus funding will be controlled by the States. In Texas the agency responsible for allocating those funds is the Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA).
BACKGROUND
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed into law on February 17, 2009. Simultaneously the U.S. government unveiled an official website to disseminate information to the public and so that you will be able to judge whether these resources are being allocated as effectively as possible. That website is http://www.recovery.gov.
In addition, on February 18, 2009, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) transmitted a lengthy memorandum of guidance to the heads of agencies throughout the U.S. government establishing requirements for various aspects of Recovery Act planning and implementation.
Much of the guidance in that document deals with Transparency and Reporting. Among the requirements, agencies must begin submitting weekly updates providing a breakdown of funding, major actions taken to date, and major planned actions. To access those reports, Click here.
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