COMBINED INVESTMENTS: AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT & OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS
Strengthening Opportunities for American
Workers through Education
A good education is one of the best ways to help both individual Americans and
our nation become stronger, and more productive and competitive. Access to a
good education should be based on what’s in a student’s heart and mind, not
their wallet. To promote our future economic strength and help families ensure a
good education for their kids, investments include:
·$53.4 billion to local school districts through Title I ($28 billion), IDEA
($24.5 billion) and the Education Technology program ($920 million).
·$53.6 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cutbacks to key services,
including $39.5 billion to local school districts and public colleges and
universities distributed through existing state and federal formulae, $5 billion
to states as bonus grants as a reward for meeting key performance measures, and
$8.8 billion to states for other high priority needs such as public safety and
other critical services, which may include modernization, renovation and repair
of public school and college facilities.
·$34.4 billion to help 6.9 million families pay for college through an increase
in the Pell Grant. With additional mandatory funding under the College Cost
Reduction and Access Act, the maximum Pell Grant will be $5,350 for the next
school year, inc
reased $1,300 since 2006.
·$9.2 billion to provide comprehensive Head Start development services to
980,000 low–income children. Only about half of all eligible preschoolers and
less than 3 percent of eligible infants and toddlers participate in Head Start.
·$1.1 billion to provide approximately 1.7 million children with quality
afterschool services while their parents work.
Strengthening the Economy through Investments in Science and Technology
To ensure that America stays on the cutting-edge, we need to be putting
scientists to work looking for the next great discovery, producing new and
innovative technologies, and making smart investments that will help businesses
in every community succeed in a global economy. Science and technology
investments include:
·Over $3.4 billion for science facilities and instrumentation, including $1.8
billion for the National Institutes of Health facilities, $500 million for the
National Institute of Standards and Technology; and $500 million for the
National Science Foundation, and $600 million for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration.
·$38.5 billion to help provide over 16,000 new research grants for lifesaving
research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes at the National
Institutes of Health.
·Nearly $38 billion for scientific research, including $6.8 billion by the
Department of Energy, $18.8 billion for NASA and $9 billion for the Natio
nal Science Foundation and $800 million by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, and $2.5 billion for agricultural research.
·$7.6 billion for grants and loans to expand broadband internet access so
businesses in rural and other underserved areas can link up to the global
economy.
Putting People to Work Modernizing Transportation and Water Infrastructure
Our roads, highways, airports, and sewer and water infrastructure are an
essential part of our economy and necessary for the creation of good-paying
jobs. To meet the demands of a growing nation we must rebuild our crumbling
roads, and bridges, modernize public buildings, and put people to work cleaning
our air, water and land. Investments include:
·Over $68 billion to improve and repair our nation’s aging highway
infrastructure.
·Over $35 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration
investments and $1.9 billion to construct and improve water and waste disposal
infrastructure in rural areas and towns.
·Over $29 billion for transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas
consumption. Public transportation saves Americans time and money, saving as
much as 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline and reducing carbon emissions by 37
million metric tons each year.
·$4.6 billion for Airport Modernization, Safety and Efficiency Grants to ease
congestion and prepare our nation’s airports for growing use.
Heal
thcare Access and Affordability
It is a moral tragedy that there are over 50 million Americans with no health
insurance, and millions more who are one major illness away from bankruptcy. As
a nation, we will never get a handle on the federal budget until we get a handle
on runaway healthcare costs and address that injustice. To save lives, ease the
squeeze on family budgets by reducing costs, and improving our healthcare
system, investments include:
·$19.5 billion to jumpstart efforts to computerize health records to cut costs
and reduce medical errors.
·$1 billion to fight preventable chronic diseases, the leading cause of deaths
in the U.S., and infectious diseases. Preventing disease rather than treating
illnesses is the most effective way to reduce healthcare costs. This includes
hospital infection prevention, adult and child immunization programs, and
evidence-based disease prevention.
·$2.7 billion to provide nearly 19 million Americans access to quality,
affordable healthcare at community health centers - expanding access to an
additional 1.9 million Americans - and $1.5 billion to help renovate clinics and
make health information technology improvements.
·$1.1 billion for healthcare research and quality programs to compare the
effectiveness of different medical treatments funded by Medicare, Medicaid, and
SCHIP. Finding out what works best and educating patients and doctors will
improve treatment.
=0
A·$1 billion to address shortages and prepare our country for universal
healthcare by training primary healthcare providers including doctors, dentists,
and nurses as well as helping pay medical school expenses for students who agree
to practice in underserved communities through the National Health Service
Corps.
·$150 million to help states expand health coverage, including $75 million for a
new initiative to provide start up grants to states that are ready with plans to
expand health care coverage to targeted groups and $75 million for State High
Risk Insurance Pools, which provide affordable health insurance to almost
200,000 people who cannot obtain health insurance in the commercial market
because they are medically high risk.
·$4.1 billion for the Indian Health Service, which provides comprehensive health
service delivery to nearly 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Native
Americans have higher mortality rates, shorter life expectancy rates, and
disproportionate disease burdens than the general U.S. population. This funding
expands access to health care, particularly in rural areas, and provides
critical infrastructure and medical equipment needs.
Keeping Communities Safe
·$7.1 billion for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including $3.8 billion
for national security activities, such as the hiring of 280 new agents and 271
new intelligence analysts, and $3.3 billion for criminal investigations
including mortgage fraud.
·$6.5 billion for grants to state and local organizations to fight and prevent
crime including Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, Community Oriented Policing
Services (COPS), the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, drug courts, and
programs for at risk youth and missing or abused children.
·$1.9 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration to fight illegal drug use,
including $73 million to fight meth, especially in targeted “hot spots.”
Attacking the Housing Crisis
·$25.9 billion for Section 8 Housing vouchers to provide housing assistance to
3.2 million individuals and families and to provide 14,000 new, targeted
vouchers for disabled persons and homeless veterans during the housing crisis.
·$8 billion for Public Housing Authorities to make critical repairs and
improvements to public housing units and improve living conditions for
residents, to buy, rehabilitate, and build housing for low income elderly and
disabled persons, and to rehabilitate and improve energy efficiency at units
maintained by Native American housing programs.
·$2 billion for gap financing to restart low income housing construction stalled
during the credit crisis.
·$4.5 billion for the public housing operating fund for maintenance, crime
prevention and energy costs.
·$1.5 billion for the Emergency Shelter Grant program to provide short term
rental assistance, housing relocation, and stabilization serv
ices for families during the economic crisis.
·$2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization program to help communities
purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties in order to create more
affordable housing and reduce neighborhood blight.
·$1.9 billion for rural housing programs.
Alleviating Hunger
·$19.9 billion to provide a 13.6% increase in nutrition assistance to
modest-income families and to lift restrictions that limit the amount of time
individuals can receive food stamps.
·$7.3 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) to provide proper nutrition to mothers and their children.
Rising food costs and the economic downturn are expected to increase
participants to 9.1 million Americans in 2009 - 400,000 more than 2008.
·$1.2 billion P.L. 480 International Food Aid and $100 million for the
McGovern-Dole program, to address world hunger at a time when rising food costs
are creating a global food crisis.