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1/15/2009
Requesting stimulus money - it's a mess
Locally, governments everywhere are getting in their two cents – no, their millions – in requests for your tax dollars and mine via this mammoth economic stimulus business coming at us.
Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution last week tried to give Americans a clear idea just how mammoth a project this stimulus plan could be.
Ironically… the political obstacles to getting it done are not as daunting as the substantive ones. This is a massive bill. To try to lay out a detailed plan to spend $400 billion to $500 billion within a two-year period... ($500 billion in spending, maybe $300 billion in tax cuts), you know, that's a lot of money. It's not easy to accomplish.
So that while, yes, there's controversy about the size of this, in some respects over the composition, I'd say the biggest obstacle is figuring out a responsible way in which you can write law that gets dollars spent quickly in ways that are not utterly irresponsible. That's the biggest challenge.
Well, it’s a mess already – and that’s before billions and billions and billions have even been appropriated. Requests for the dollars are coming in from anywhere and everywhere – and no formal logistics are in place to request or receive these money grabs.
I talked with Eric Fowle, Executive Director of the East Central Wisconsin Planning Commission about public works projects as part of a stimulus package that he said “started a firestorm from Day 1.”
“No one ever put anything together and got it out there,” says Fowle. I wish someone would have thought a few steps ahead before rushing this thing through.” Well, hear, hear.
Fowle was one of the lucky ones. He actually received a written request – from the (Federal) Economic Development Association’s Chicago regional office asking for projects from his district. With a scant two weeks in December to get the list compiled, Fowle pulled projects from previously approved development plans. He took the liberty of including a few long-term projects (i.e. not those famous “shovel-ready” ones) because “you never know” – and he figured “we should throw it in there anyway.”
(It’s interesting that Sen. Rob Cowles, Rep., Green Bay, asked Fowle for a breakdown of the projects by senatorial district. If legislators have anything to do with distributing any of this money, I can smell pork cooking all the way from Madison. And that’s another wholly separate Never Never Land – getting the $s distributed effectively and efficiently. Oh my.)
In presentations recently, I heard town chairmen refer to “submitting projects.” More Never-Never Land. Those submissions came via existing “Intent to Apply” and “Priority Ranking” application forms used to apply for Wisconsin Clean Water Fund and Safe Drinking Water grants. Per Amy Vaclavik at McMahon and Associates, her people in the field suggested municipal projects be submitted after she heard a DNR spokesperson at a fall conference “encouraging getting projects in on this.” No written memo was seen by folks at McMahon.
Everyone’s putting together lists.
A coalition including environmental groups and the mayors of Milwaukee and Madison are pushing $2 billion worth of projects they want to be funded through the federal economic stimulus package. The group said the projects are environmentally friendly and include such things as creating a high-speed rail between Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison and investing in renewable energy.
Group representatives said Tuesday their ideas would create about 30,000 jobs in Wisconsin. Melissa Scanlan, with Midwest Environmental Advocates, said the list includes items Gov. Jim Doyle has already presented to Congress and President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. "This is not a bailout or about a handout. This is about investing in Wisconsin's green economy," Scanlan said.
(Update: Roadbuilders take issue with environmental coalition's recommendations.)
Rep. Kagen, as I’m sure are most of his fellow Congressmen, is pushing for earmarks in the stimulus package:
(Via DC Wrap, WisPolitics.com) U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen says his top priority when it comes to the federal economic stimulus package will be to ensure that projects in northeast Wisconsin are included. He said he will leave it up to others to decide whether those projects will be called "earmarks."
…. Kagen said he has been working with fellow Transportation Infrastructure Committee member Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, to secure funds for improvement of U.S. 41. Asked why projects he covets in his district are not earmarks, Kagen said, “I guess you'd have to find the definition for me."
And lastly, here is the list of East Central projects mentioned above. The Appleton projects listed are included in the 2009 Appleton budget (or planned for future years); i.e., dollars are already allotted for them via the community (see yesterday’s FoxPolitics post). The same may be true for other municipalities. Note also another player getting into the act – NEW North documents applying directly to Rep. Kagen’s office.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
The plans and projects put forth by the Regional Planning Commission will have the sort of merit that new off-ramps to big box stores will not. My criticism of the stimulus vs bailout is one of the pork for big business paid for on the tax payer dollar.
In the long list of 260 items it remains to be seen of the pepper can be separated from the fly specks (as an old saying goes.)
I have significant arguments with rail projects over buses and other means of transport more appropriate to actual implementation of mass transit in the sprawl communities of this area.
The RPC has shown that the Fox Valley has the worst sprawl problem in the state for a peer size community. And a report is due soon to be presented by RPC and Valley Transit. Anecdotal
information from my questions at meetings give indication that a flexible bus system able to be re-routed for pickups as needed is one idea out there.
As part of the stimulus, county and city vehicles at the end of their life cycles could be replaced with fuel efficient ones. This is one of the first things done by communities applying eco municipality principles.
The danger is that in many people's minds, stimulus equals "growth" rather than the necessary managed contraction needed for the future health of communities.
And the question remains at this time as to who will decide what sorts of things will go forward. There is no public forum of sufficient size to discuss the broader issues. Congressional fly-overs and so-called Town Hall Meetings have become little more than public relations events wherein little actual public participation takes place.
Lon Ponschock (Thu Jan 15 10:46:54 2009)
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