THE WHITE HOUSE 

Office of the Press Secretary

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                              May 29, 2009

President Obama Marks 100 Days of Recovery

With “100 Projects, 100 Days” Report 

- African American families, businesses, prepare for new opportunities from Recovery Act - 

WASHINGTON - Since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 100 days ago, resources have made their way into African American communities with investments in schools, health care, clean energy and other infrastructure projects saving or creating thousands of jobs.  The Recovery Act is providing relief in hard hit areas and extending opportunity to those out of work and looking for a new path to prosperity. 

Here is a sample of the projects from the “100 Projects, 100 Days” report that have impacted the African American Community:  

Jobs and Training:

·         “A portion of the federal stimulus package funds will put up to 89 people to work in Macon County for six weeks beginning June 1. The Summer Youth Program falls under the umbrella of the Alabama Department of Labor to target those from 16-24 who are out of work.” [The Tuskegee News, 5/21/09] 

Supporting Communities:

·         The Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grant program provides funding for two years to Health Centers to increase health center staffing, extend hours of operations, and expand existing services. Using $147,000 in IDS funds, the Stewart County Community Medical Center in Tennessee will address two significant problems: deaths due to untreated diabetic conditions (Tennessee ranks 5th in the nation) and a lack of dentists. The Stewart County health center will use Recovery Act funds to provide free retinal eye screens for hundreds of their residents, as well as a full-time dental assistant, a part-time dentist to help their full-time staff clinician, and a bus service to get local children to and from the clinic. 

Supporting Teachers:

·         “The Alachua County School District will use federal stimulus money to pay approximately 250 teachers on annual contracts for the next two school years. … Last week, the state received a waiver from the federal government and approval for $1.8 billion to go toward public education. Before the waiver, Florida had been ineligible to receive budget stabilization money from the federal stimulus to go toward education because the state’s edu­cation spending was below the 2006 level. For the Alachua County School District, the budget stabilization portion of the stimulus will be $9.1 million for school years 2009-10 and 2010-11. Keith Birkett, assistant superintendent for planning and budget, said all that money will be spent on teachers.” [The Gainesville Sun, 5/20/09] 

To view the full report, click HERE.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law on February 17, 2009.  Just 100 days into the two-year economic recovery program, over $112 billion in Recovery Act funds has been obligated to stimulative programs and projects and over 150,000 jobs have been created or saved by the Recovery Act.  

In addition to providing immediate relief measures for American families like the Making Work Pay tax credit and a 65 percent reduction in COBRA health insurance premiums, the Recovery Act also provides new and expanded energy-efficiency and first-time homebuyer tax credits that are driving fresh consumer demand and makes multi-billion dollar long-term investments in high-speed rail, broadband access, a nationwide smart energy grid and a modern health information technology system. 

Immediate Relief Offered for Individuals and Families:

• Over 150,000 jobs were created or saved.

• Laid-off individuals began collecting an extra $25 a week in unemployment benefits paying 65 percent less for their COBRA health insurance premiums.

• Ninety-five percent of working families saw their take-home pay increase because of the Making Work Pay tax credit.

• Qualifying families saw their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits increase by over 13 percent. 

• Fifty-four million seniors received $250 Recovery Act relief payments, with similar benefits going to veterans and other groups in the coming weeks.

• Thirteen different renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives were expanded or made newly available to consumers and businesses.

• The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit was expanded to help Americans receive a tax credit of up to $8,000 after the purchase of a new home and over $3 billion in these tax credits were paid out to qualifying homebuyers.

Other Recovery Act Programs:

• $5 billion in temporary assistance for needy families

• $2.3 billion for child care and child vaccinations

• $1 billion in Community Service Block Grants

• $1 billion for COPS neighborhood policing program

• $2 billion to expand Head Start and Early Head Start Programs

• $3 billion for improvements to public housing including energy efficiency upgrades

• $8.4 billion for public transit

• $500 million for training in green jobs

• $155 million for community health centers across America

Finally, resources used through the Recovery Act are subject to the same anti-discrimination policies as other funding made available through the federal government.  The White House Office of Management and Budget has also issued directions noting that disadvantaged business enterprises should be given full consideration as project managers seek out vendors for Recovery Act projects. Visit this site at www.grants.gov to learn more about grants available through the Recovery Act.

Businesses interested in getting more information about opportunities in their area should consult their state or local Recovery Act implementation director through office of their local mayor or governor. To learn more about the Recovery Act, visit www.recovery.gov. 

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