The web site, recovery.pa.gov, links to a document, Your Guide to the Pennsylvania Economic Recovery Package, that describes and provides examples of projects that might be eligible for economic recovery funds available to Pennsylvania. The opportunities are described by Commonwealth government departments and institutions:

• Department of Environmental Protection
• Department of Transportation
• Pennvest
• Department of Education
• Department of Community and Economic Development
• Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
• Relief for Pennsylvanians (Department of Public Welfare, Department of Labor and Industry, etc.)
• Health Care

A companion document is an Adobe PDF file that contains slides used in a presentation to the Pennsylvania legislature about Pennsylvania;s recovery package.

David Passmore

The Congressional Budget Office wrote to Senator Grassley on 2 March 2009:

CBO has developed a range of estimates of the effects of stimulus legislation on gross domestic product (GDP) and employment that encompasses a majority of economists’ views. By CBO’s estimation, in the short run ARRA will raise GDP and increase employment by adding to aggregate demand and thereby boosting the utilization of labor and capital that would otherwise be unused because the economy is in recession. Most of the budgetary effects of the legislation are estimated to occur over the next few years, and as those effects diminish, the short-run impact on the economy will fade.

 Read the entire letter here as an Adobe PDF file.

David Passmore

A video clip from Bloomberg News featuring analysis by Laurence Meyer, former Fed Governor and by Paul Krugman of Princeton University. Bloomberg summary:

Meyer served as Fed governor from 1996 to 2002; Fed cut rates to near zero, says it will do whatever necessary; Krugman won 2008 Nobel prize in economics; Nearly 2 million jobs lost since beginning of year; Some say U.S. economy will contract 5% in current quarter; Stimulus could be worth 7% of total U.S. GDP; Obama says stimulus will focus on infrastructure, tax cuts; White house "close" to deal on auto bailout, spokeswoman says; Treasury could tap TARP funds to save automakers; Paulson has spent nearly all of first batch of $700 billion.

Interesting point of comparison because this clip is from mid-December 2008.
David Passmore

David Passmore

A series of videos from the National Workforce Alliance feature remarks by Fred Dedrick, Pennsylvania’s Acting Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development. From the National Workforce Alliance web site:

State Leaders took the "3 P’s" to the Hill at The Workforce Alliance’s annual Summit held February 23-25, in Washington, DC. Business leaders, unions, educators and public officials from 26 states called on federal officials to embrace a three-part skills strategy for the nation. State coalitions met with over 150 Members of Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor to call on leaders to embrace a 21st-century vision and strategy for investing in middle-skills as a core component of the nation’s economic strategy.

Other participants in the panel at which Dedrick spoke included Bruce Herman, New York Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development, and Steve Ovel, Governmental Relations, Kirkwood Community College, Iowa. Information about the Workforce Alliance’s 2009 Summit, held 23-25 February 2009 in Washington, is available.

David Passmore

Stateline.org provides an interactive graphic that tracks loan foreclosures and unemployment in the states, including Pennsylvania.

David Passmore

"Rendell on strings attached with stimulus funds: "I don’t care" — a negative video that describes Governor Rendell’s decision to accept stimulus funds.

"Hardball - PA Gov. Ed Rendell discusses acceptance of stimulus funds" — Governor Rendell discusses acceptance of stimulus funds LA Gov. Jindal lambasted 02_23_09.

"Rendell Administration has high hopes for stimulus" — Rodio story about hopes for stimulus package for Pennsylvania.

Gov. Rendell: My People Are Suffering — Governor Rendell on Fox News discussing economic stimulus.

 

David Passmore

On 5 March, Pennsylvania Governor Rendell signed two official letters requesting Pennsylvania’s share of funding under the economic-stimulus package. During a news conference, Governor Rendell signed two certification letters, one to President Obama and another to Peter Osrzag at the Office of Management and Budget, so Pennsylvania can begin receiving funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer,

In all, Pennsylvania will receive $9.8 billion for so-called recovery spending: infrastructure, health care, education, job training, and energy. An additional roughly $8 billion will go to residents directly in the form of tax relief and benefits.

The Governor provided a sample project tracking report that will be used to track the impact of stimulus money in Pennsylvania.

The state’s official web site for citizens to track the use and impact of stimulus funds is available at http://recovery.pa.gov.

Mr. Rendell outlined Pennsylvania’s "plans for stimulus spending [that] emphasizes accountability, transparency for residents to provide input, [and] track progress."

More on progress tracking in a subsequent posting from me.

David Passmore

A requirement of the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009 is for reporting jobs created through use of funds authorized and allocated under the Act. Section 1512 (Reports on Use of Funds) of the Act specifically requires quarterly reports of job creation, including posting these reports on a web site. Section 1512(g) indicates that "Federal agencies, in coordination with the Office of Management and the Budget, shall provide user-friendly means for recipients of covered funds to meet the requirements of this section." The meaning of this requirement in practice remains unclear.

A brief video presentation by Greg Alward describes analytical tools that could help meet these reporting requirements (click image to view):

 This is the same software that we use at the Penn State Workforce Education & Development Initiative to create our Economic & Workforce Brief series and to perform other economic impact estimates.

David Passmore

When we find a resource (a web page, PDF, image, video, audio) on the web that is pertinent to understanding Pennsylvania’s economic recovery, we "tag" it at del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site. From the del.icio.us Wikipedia entry:

Delicious uses a non-hierarchical classification system in which users can tag each of their bookmarks with freely chosen index terms (generating a kind of folksonomy). A combined view of everyone’s bookmarks with a given tag is available; for instance, the URL "http://delicious.com/tag/wiki" displays all of the most recent links tagged "wiki". Its collective nature makes it possible to view bookmarks added by similar-minded users.

From the "Welcome" page for this site:

Tracked on this site, developed by Penn State’s Workforce Education & Development Initiative, is information and analysis about what funds will flow to Pennsylvania under the authority of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, how the money will be used, and what effects spending resulting from the Act will have on the Pennsylvania economy. We also will follow and comments on other legislation, policy directives, events, or actions that are likely to affect the success of the implementation of the Act. In addition, we will add our own original commentary and analysis to the mix of articles posted to this site.

The site is meant to help us record what you learn about matters that shape and result in Pennsylvania’s economic recovery. Each of us is finding web resources that are related to the Commonwealth’s economic recovery. We often share URLs, PDF’s, and other resources with each other via e-mail, IM, and scraps of paper left in mailboxes. The site allows us to document these resources in one net-accessible space and share these within our group and with others. Not meant to be more work for us; just meant to accompany us as we work.

Share information related to the recovery as you find it. I use del.icio.ius, a social bookmarking site, to tag and share resources that I find. The list of our del.icio.us resources tagged so far is available at:
http://del.icio.us/tag/PSU-EconStim

Obtain a del.icio.us account at:
https://secure.delicious.com/register

Rose Baker and I have an iTunes interview about use of del.icio.us available at:
http://symposium.tlt.psu.edu/node/207

I created the following videos to help you use del.icio.us:
— http://Get-Del-Acct.notlong.com to learn how to establish a del.icio.us account;
— http://Get-Del-Buttons.notlong.com to learn how to obtain del.icio.us button tools for your web browser; and
— http://Get-Del-Tagging.notlong.com to learn how to tag Internet resources.

YouTube videos related to del.icio.us and its use are at:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=del.icio.us&aq=f

Join us! Share resources that you find with readers of this site by using del.icio.us. We use the tag, PSU-EconStim, to track resources related to Pennsylvania’s economic recovery.

David Passmore