Ten Ways our Community Will Benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
#1 Helping struggling families find or stay in their homes
- Michigan will receive increased funding through the Emergency Shelter Grant program.
- For example, this money can be used to help expand programs administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
#2 Lowering energy costs and helping families to make ends meet
- Michigan will receive an additional $248 million to help families lower their heating and cooling bills. We will also create jobs by helping state and local governments invest in new energy efficient technology – technologies that will save residents money in the long run.
- And, we will give families an incentive to make energy efficient improvements on their homes by extending and improving the tax credit.
#3 Keeping our communities safe from crime
- The Recovery package provides $2 billion to fight crime and hire law enforcement in our local communities (and it waives local matching requirements for the COPS grant to ensure economically distressed communities can participate.)
- In the past year, law enforcement agencies in Michigan’s 15th Congressional District has utilized grant programs like this one to purchase bulletproof vests and body armor for our police force.
#4 Creating educational opportunities for our kids
- Michigan will receive an additional $212 million this year in education funding for disadvantaged children – and approximately $425 million over the next two years.
- Michigan will also receive funding to modernize 383 schools so that our children will have quality, energy efficient classrooms they will help, rather than distract, from the learning process.
#5 Ensuring our returning veterans have access to the care they deserve
- This package invests $1.2 billion in our Veterans’ facilities.
#6 Reducing congestion and delays at our airports
- The Recovery Act makes a $1.1 billion investment in our nation’s airports, to relieve airport congestion and delays.
- Detroit Metropolitan Airport has obtained $52 million in similar funding in the past two years that has allowed it to expand taxiways and address noise concerns.
#7 Improving our roads and bridges
- The Recovery Act includes $27.5 billion to improve our nation’s roads and bridges – nearly $847 million of which will go to Michigan.
- In our state, the funds will allow work to be completed on projects like repairing the thousands of potholes that cover our roadways, and strengthening the three dozen bridges in Michigan that are structurally deficient.
#8 Providing tax relief to working Americans
- Each working family will receive a tax rebate because of this legislation -- up to $400 per worker earning up to $100,000 and $800 for married couples earning up to $200,000.
- 3.91 million Michigan workers will benefit from this tax credit.
#9 Helping our neighbors who have lost good-paying jobs
- In Michigan 1,040,000 workers have lost their jobs during this recession. These were good paying jobs at places like GM and Ford.
- So, we are extending unemployment insurance to help bridge the gap until they find new jobs, which will help an additional 162,000 workers.
- And, we are making it easier for those who have lost their jobs to keep their health insurance.
- In Michigan, the average COBRA monthly premium for families is $1,075, while the average monthly unemployment benefit is $1,276. This is 84 percent of their UI benefits. The Recovery and Reinvestment plan will subsidize 65 percent of that premium so families can keep their coverage.
#10 Developing our local industries
- This legislation will allow us to build up Michigan’s battery technology industry by making $2 billion available in grants for advanced technology development programs.
- Currently, there is no domestic company that can both produce battery cells and assemble final battery packs.
- These advanced technology grants will help companies like A123 Systems from Ann Arbor become global competitors in battery systems.
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