Several weeks ago President Obama signed the $790 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) into law. Since then, we have been working hard to ensure that Madison residents receive substantial and direct benefits from these funds. Never in our lifetimes has this much federal funding been injected into the economy this fast. In order to ensure that we not miss extremely tight deadlines, decisions will need to be expedited. This website is designed to keep you up to date on the rapidly changing federal stimulus landscape and give you the opportunity to weigh in on these important decisions.
Federal stimulus money will come to the City through a patchwork of existing programs, each with a set of detailed regulations on how to use the money and specific deadlines that must be met. In some cases, the City will receive a direct allocation of funds based on a formula. In other cases, we will need to compete with other entities for grants from either the state or federal governement.
As we make decisions on how best to use stimulus funds to benefit our city, I will keep three goals in mind. First, we should spend these funds as President Obama intended -- to create jobs and stimulate our local economy. Second, the funds should benefit our residents who have been most effected by the downturn in the economy. And third, stimulus dollars should transform our local economy into one that is more sustainable. We need to move toward an economy that is built on savings rather than debt, on production rather than consumption, and on environmental sustainability rather than degradation.
