How Stimulus Money is Being Spent
Tracking Stimulus Spending Using an Independent Source
Aug 3, 2009
The Web site Recovery.org – not to be confused with the government site Recovery.gov – provides an independent look at how American tax dollars are being spent as part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The site is run by Onvia, a company based in Seattle whose products include a tool aimed at connecting businesses to government contract opportunities. The goal of the stimulus Web site is to “bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to recovery spending and to ensure that every business, regardless of size, has equal access to the projects associated with the recovery efforts,” the company says.
Tracking Stimulus Money by State
By early August, nearly six months after the $787 billion stimulus package was signed, Recovery.org had recorded 23,160 active projects for total of $74.82 billion.
California and Washington were the two states that spent the most money in the first six months. California had 1,361 projects underway by August 3 for $7.42 billion, while Washington had a total of 788 for $6.58 billion.
North Dakota and Vermont had spent the least. North Dakota had spent $180 million on 246 projects by August 3, while Vermont had spent nearly $238 million on 95.
A map on the home page of Recovery.org tells how many projects each state has in play and the total dollar value thus far. The map is color coded to give a quick view of which states have spent a lot and which have spent not so much.
Stimulus Information That’s Not on the Federal Web Site
Recovery.org has many features that don’t exist on the government Web site, including an interactive format that allows visitors to comment on various projects and rate them as important or not so important.
The site also allows visitors to sort the project by categories like most recent, most expensive and most discussed, so it’s possible to quickly find a specific kind of information. Visitors can also view which projects Web site visitors deem the most necessary or unnecessary and why.
As of early August, visitors to the site had deemed the most worthwhile a $1.64 billion project in hWashington State to demolish nuclear facilities and support facilities and remediate waste and contaminated groundwater sites. Deemed as the most unnecessary was a $5 million project for guidance signs for the San Diego Regional Airport Authority.
Also as of August 3, the most expensive project, also in the state of Washington, cost a total of $1.95 billion. The project consists of designing and building a more than 3-mile public transit link.
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