Overview

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009

The American economy has seen the worse recession and the biggest job loss since the end of World War II. In response to this, President Obama worked with congress to pass the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 on February, 2009. Congress passed the Act on February 13, 2009 and it was signed into law by President Obama four days later.

Recovery Act's Immediate Goals

• Create new jobs and save existing ones.
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth.
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending.

Recovery Act's Plan to Achieve Goals

• Provide $288 billion in tax cuts and benefits for millions of working families and businesses.
• Increase federal funds for education and health care as well as entitlement programs (such as extending unemployment benefits) by $224 billion
• Make $275 billion available for federal contracts, grants and loans, and requiring recipients of Recovery funds to report quarterly on how they are using the money.

In addition to offering financial aid directly to local school districts, expanding the Child Tax Credit, and underwriting a process to computerize health records to reduce medical errors and save on health care costs, the Recovery Act is targeted at infrastructure development and enhancement. For instance, the Act plans investment in the domestic renewable energy industry and the weatherizing of 75 percent of federal buildings as well as more than one million private homes around the country.

Construction and repair of roads and bridges as well as scientific research and the expansion of broadband and wireless service are also included among the many projects that the Recovery Act will fund.

While many of Recovery Act projects are focused to have an immediate impact on the economy, others, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.

Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010

Additional steps were taken when President Obama signed into law the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 on August 10, 2010. This Act allocates approximately $10 billion to local school districts to prevent teacher layoffs due to state revenue shortfalls (portion known as the Education Jobs Fund), and approximately $16 billion to help states pay rising Medicaid costs without having to lay off public and private sector employees.

The Act also funds approximately $1.1 billion of the allocations by eliminating the advance payment option for the earned income credit, and approximately $9 billion of the allocations through several changes to the international provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

Purpose of Iowa's Economic Recovery Website

Iowa's Economic Recovery Website is intended to share news and information pertaining to both the Recovery Act and Education Jobs Fund, and provide the public with information on projects here in Iowa.

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