Home Link
National Economic Stimulus Package

 

NOACA Urgent Infrastructure Recommendations for a National Economic Stimulus Package

The following documents include NOACA’s recommendations for an economic stimulus package:

  • Amended Resolution 2008-040 adopted by the Governing Board on December 12, 2008
  • Resolution 2009-004, National Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan Coordination, adopted by the Governing Board on February 13, 2009
  • Exhibit I is an illustrative list of already approved NOACA projects intended to show Members of Congress the need for immediate infrastructure investment in Northeast Ohio. Exhibit 1 contains federal-aid projects using NOACA controlled funds that have been approved by the Governing Board, having gone through significant committee, intergovernmental and public review.
  • Exhibit II is a list of projects that, while not necessarily NOACA projects, are deemed by local project sponsors to be important infrastructure investments. These are not intended to be fully comprehensive lists of projects, and NOACA staff will add to Exhibit II as project sponsors provide additional information.
These lists do not determine project eligibility; eligibility for stimulus bill projects will be determined by Congress. Inclusion of a project on these lists does not ensure stimulus funding, and the absence of a project from this list does not necessarily preclude funding. While federal funds typically cover 80 percent of these project costs, the stimulus bill may have a different local match, or no local match.

NOACA’s recommendations for an economic stimulus package include the following:
  1. Congress should pass a stimulus bill with a strong infrastructure component that includes highways, bridges, transit operations, transit vehicles, aviation, port, and water pollution abatement control infrastructure.
  2. Congress should set aside additional funding for urgent bridge safety projects. The Innerbelt Bridge project should be awarded sufficient funds for completion as soon as possible, over and above any other stimulus or formula transportation funds allotted to Ohio.
  3. Ohio should aggressively pursue federal stimulus funding, ensuring that all projects which might reasonably be considered “ready-to-go” are counted in their reports to Congress.
  4. Congress should distribute highway and bridge funding to the states in a manner proportional to existing program formulas.
  5. Congress should consider creating some flexibility in the timeframe for encumbering these funds.
  6. Stimulus funds should be awarded to metropolitan planning organizations based on planning decisions reached as the result of consensus among local, regional, and state officials. Congress should distribute transportation and environmental funding to the states in a manner consistent with current planning requirements, and target additional infrastructure funding to states with highest unemployment.
While our information is preliminary and subject to change, our current understanding of the pending bill is that Congress will require that eligible transportation infrastructure projects be ready to construct within 120 days. The Congressional leadership hopes to have the bill on the President’s desk on Inauguration Day. Funding is expected to be distributed based on current transportation program formulas, and not based on any list of projects. We do not know at this time how much funding Congress will make available. Congressional leaders have also said that states and regions that can't spend their allotments in a timely manner may lose these funds to others who can obligate them within the proposed timeframe. It appears that project readiness will be critical.

Please contact Jonathan Giblin if you have any questions or need assistance.