Congressman Sander Levin

Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Our state and nation are facing the worst economic crisis in generations. 8 million jobs have been lost since the start of the Recession, the financial crisis has depleted retirement and savings accounts, credit is frozen for businesses and consumers, and our neighborhoods have been hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The President approved the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act as part of a vital effort to jumpstart the economy, create jobs, help workers hurt by the economy, and make key investments to transform the economy. Michigan is estimated to receive $18 billion through Recovery package programs.

The Economic Recovery Act consisted of three main areas: 37% or $288 Billion in tax relief, 28% or $233 Billion in direct payments to individuals through programs like unemployment insurance, and the final third or $276 Billion in grants, loans or contracts to local governments, schools, organizations and businesses.

The first “recipient report” was released at the end of October covering this last third of the Recovery Act. Michigan reported that $5.2 billion had been allocated to the State through September 20th in grants, contracts or loans, $1.2 billion had been received and 22,500 Michigan jobs were creat¬ed or retained.

Unfortunately, the reporting allocated job determinations based on the agency doing the reporting, so 19,367 were attributed to Ingham County and not to the areas where the money is actually being used. That explains why Macomb County is credited with 115 jobs and 154 Oakland is credited with jobs.

A more accurate local report is found on the State Recovery page which tracks $343.6 million to Macomb County and $486 million to Oakland County to date. Per capita, this is $414 per Macomb County resident and $396 per Oakland County resident.

To learn more about the Recovery Act in Michigan, Click Here

To learn more about the Recovery Act nationwide, Click Here

Impact of the Recovery Act nationwide

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist and Co-Founder of Moody’s Economy.com issued a report at the end of October, Fiscal Policy Road Map. The report found:

“It is no coincidence that the Great Recession ended just as the stimulus began providing its maximum economic benefit. The stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do: short-circuit the recession and spur recovery.”

“What matters for economic growth is the pace of stimulus spending, which surged from nothing at the beginning of the year to about $80 billion in the third quarter. That is a big change in a short period and is why the economy is growing again after more than a year.”

Data released by the Commerce Department show that real GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of the year. Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors said: “This is in stark contrast to the decline of 6.4 percent annual rate just two quarters ago. Indeed, the two-quarter swing in the rate of growth of 9.9 percentage points was the largest since 1980. Analysis by both the Council of Economic Advisers and a wide range of private and public-sector forecasters indicates that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contributed between 3 and 4 percentage points to real GDP growth in the third quarter. This suggests that in the absence of the Recovery Act, real GDP would have risen little, if at all, this past quarter.”

Community Resource and Constituent Service Guide

We prepared a Community Resource Guide earlier this year to assist local communities and community organizations evaluate their participation in Recovery programs.

We have also prepared Constituent Service Fact Sheets to assist individuals with the programs that might assist them directly. For example, there is a new program to provide a COBRA Health care subsidy to unemployed workers.

Please do not hesitate to contact my office if we may be of assistance. James Jackson is serving as our Economic Recovery Coordinator and he may be reached at 586-498-7122 or 248-968-2025

Recovery Resources

	12th District Community Resource Guide
	12th District Constituent Service Guide
Community Recovery Resource Guide
Download the Community Resource Guidebook
A Glossary of Additional Websites