White House Says Texas Benefitted From Recovery Act

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Media Affairs

______________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 17, 2010

 

RECOVERY ACT CREATING JOBS AND DRIVING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN TEXAS

The Recovery Act at One Year

One year in, the Recovery Act is at work across the country creating jobs and driving economic growth.  From major highway projects to green retrofits of military facilities and manufacturing of advanced batteries, more than 55,000 projects across the country have now been funded through the Recovery Act.  To get an up close look at some of those projects, click HERE.  This is in addition to the nearly $120 billion in tax relief already provided to American families and businesses – with more to come this year – and the billions of dollars in relief provided to shore up state and local government programs like Medicaid and education facing severe budget shortfalls. To see a video of how the Recovery Act is helping cities across the country click HERE.

This is what it looks like, by the numbers: 

Jobs

·         CBO: According to the nonpartisan CBO, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009.

·         CEA, Other Private Forecasters: Analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs – a figure in line with estimates from private forecasters like IHS Global, Moody’s Economy and even the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

The Economy

·         GDP/Economic Growth: In the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy grew 5.7 percent – – the largest gain in six years and something many economists say is largely due to the Recovery Act.  Before the Recovery Act, the economy was shrinking by about 6 percent.

·         Job Losses: Job losses for the fourth quarter of 2009 were one-seventh what they were in the first quarter of 2009 when the Recovery Act was passed.

Recovery Dollars

• Spending: Nearly 70 percent of the $499 billion in Recovery Act spending has been obligated to specific programs and projects so far, putting those dollars to work in communities across the country.

 

• Tax Relief: Nearly $120 billion in tax relief has been provided for working families and businesses through the Recovery Act this year.

This is what is looks like, by the numbers in Texas:

Total Jobs & Spending

·         JOBS CREATED AND SAVED – CEA estimates that 147,000 jobs were created or saved by the Recovery Act in Texas in 2009

·         TOTAL SPEND – Over $19.3 billion in Recovery funds has been made available to Texas – and more than $9 billion has already been spent.

Investing in Infrastructure

·         CONSTRUCTION – 491 transportation projects have been obligated in Texas, totaling over $2.2 billion.

·         SMALL BUSINESS – 3,525 Recovery Act-backed small business loans have been given to Texas small businesses, supporting almost $1.7 billion in lending.

Relief to Individuals

·         TAX RELIEF – Because of the Making Work Pay tax credit, 8.4 million Texas working families will collectively receive $4.2 billion in tax relief.

·         UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS – More than 890,000 Texas residents have expanded unemployment benefits because of the Recovery Act.

·         STIMULUS PAYMENTS – More than 3.3 million Texas seniors, veterans and other high-need residents have received one-time economic relief payments of $250, totaling more than $841 million.

Helping States

·         TEACHERS – Close to 18,500 education positions were reported as funded by the Recovery Act in Q4 2009 in Texas – which has received more than $2.9 billion in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF).

·         MEDICAID – The Recovery Act has already made more than $3.5 billion available to help prevent additional Medicaid cuts in Texas.  The state of Texas has spent more than $2.9 billion of the available funds.