Harry Moroz

On The Anniversary Of The Enactment Of The Stimulus

Back in November I wrote an article that reported on the concerns of many mayors that the economic stimulus package did not sufficiently target urban areas. Instead, funds were disproportionately funneled through state governments. It seems - or so I'll assume - that the White House was anticipating similar criticism on this the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's enactment. The White House gathered together several mayors who praised the stimulus in no uncertain terms.

This morning the administration also announced the winners of $1.5 billion in Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants, which were part of the stimulus package. These grants - for freight rail, streetcars, and multimodal transit hubs - involved intense competition with different transportation types given equal consideration. As a result, Streetsblog's Elana Schor reports:

John Robert Smith, the CEO of the pro-rail group Reconnecting America, hailed the TIGER program as a model for the next long-term federal transportation bill. Smith noted in a statement that 53 percent of the TIGER funding went to local governments and transit agencies rather than getting routed through state DOTs -- a major complaint from mayors during the drafting of the stimulus law's transportation spending provisions.

The stimulus undoubtedly helped cities. And the TIGER grant program might represent a shift in how transportation projects are funded. The fact remains, though, that cities are in a deep fiscal crisis and that even 53 percent funding for local governments and transit agencies is likely an underinvestment when the population and the GDP generation of metros is considered.

Though mayors' views on the stimulus are more nuanced than I think this video lets on, it's definitely worth a look:

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Posted at 5:09 PM, Feb 17, 2010 in
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