Submitted by sfreidus on Wed, 01/03/2018 - 17:18
A new report looks back at states’ experiences in implementing the federal reporting requirements and offers insights for the potential of extending such requirements.
Since 2009, the public has been able to track the outlay of more than $275 billion in federal contracts, grants, and loans as a result of the unprecedented transparency and accountability provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), part of the federal economic stimulus program.
Submitted by sfreidus on Wed, 01/03/2018 - 14:18
What happened?
While there are debates as to whether the Recovery Act saved the economy or not, the one thing that has not been in the headlines was the way federal agency leaders implemented more than 200 programs that were used to distribute the money.
Submitted by rthomas on Wed, 12/20/2017 - 13:23
The Recovery Act is quietly influencing federal-state-local relations. Not only is the money being used to save jobs as states and localities cut back their budgets, but the ways states and localities are choosing to use and report on the funds are creating different ways for getting “the business of government” done.
Submitted by rthomas on Wed, 12/20/2017 - 12:51
Congress passed the $787 billion Recovery Act in early 2009. The Act – sometimes referred to as the stimulus bill – focused on job creation, but it does so through hundreds of existing and new federal programs. Implementing these programs falls on the shoulders of thousands of state, local, non-profit, and private organizations. The Act also spawned new governance models. What are the implications of these models for national policy leadership, accountability, and our federal system?
Submitted by rgordon on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 11:44
Historically, spending under stimulus legislation tended to peak after a recession was over, oftentimes creating inflation instead of jobs. To avoid this, the Recovery Act mandated tight timeframes, with 70 percent of the money required to be spent within 17 months to generate jobs. There was significant concern that this rapid spending might result in an estimated $50 billion in waste, fraud, or abuse. Accordingly, there were stringent transparency and accountability requirements embedded in the law.
Submitted by rgordon on Tue, 09/06/2011 - 10:30
These funds were accompanied by a new, centralized system of strict financial accountability and performance reporting, with frequent reporting requirements. These new requirements, as well as the rapid implementation timeframe required by the Recovery Act, created an enormous implementation challenge for all the participants in our federal-state-local-nonprofit intergovernmental system.
