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Officials discussed the contents of the $787 billion American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 that was passed by the U.S. Senate last Friday and will be signed into law by President Barack Obama today.
During a phone conference, Len Simon, legislative lobbyist for the City of
According to Simon, the bill provides $15.8 billion for the Student Financial Assistance program and $13 billion for the Education for the Disadvantaged program.
Grant money would be given to local school districts, which would dispense the funds as needed, Simon said. The School Improvement Program is allotted $720 million and includes a $70 million allotment for homeless students.
The package allots $1.5 billion for homelessness prevention under the McKinney-Vento Homeless act. The act would also provide for rental assistance and rehousing for the recently homeless, Simon said.
The bill also includes $1 billion to hire or rehire police officers.
According to Simon, many of the grants contained in the stimulus package are targeted toward urban areas, and
Simon described the package as “very entrepreneurial,” saying the bill required a great deal of departmental responsibility and quick action.
“Try to think through what the best use of the dollars is,” Simon advised city officials. “And be poised and ready to receive the funding.”
Madison Fire Chief Debra Amesqua noted that it was important to apply for grants as quickly as possible and suggested the city put together a committee of grant writers to apply for federal funds effectively.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said he put together a committee designed to discover which federal funds the city can apply for and to work with city officials to produce a grant strategy.
“We will be inventing this as we go along, but feds want us to get the money out as soon as possible,” Cieslewicz said.
In addition, the stimulus package is designed to prevent early childhood through post-secondary educators from being laid off by providing financial aid for educational agencies through the State Fiscal Stablization Fund, Simon said.
Cieslewicz said these funds could be used for public safety or other governmental services at the governor’s discretion as well.
According to Simon, people usually think the federal stimulus package is designed for “shovel-ready” projects, but the package is also designed to help people through tough times and aid state and local governments.
