The obligations are important because a provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stipulates that states that fail to obligate funds from certain programs by next month would have that money pulled by federal agencies and redistributed to states able to obligate their money. The provision was intended to ensure expeditious spending, to meet the goals of the stimulus package.
"From launching the nation's first transportation stimulus project to obligating all of our recovery act funds ahead of schedule, MoDOT has worked rapidly to show that transportation projects do play an integral role in supporting jobs and rebuilding our nation's economy," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said in a press release. "While these funds don't come close to covering all of our transportation needs, they have helped fill a short-term gap as other federal and state resources continue to decline."
MoDOT has 187 projects slated for completion in coming years and estimates those projects will support 12,500 direct, indirect, and induced jobs.
MoDOT's press release also notes that bids for all planned projects came in $24 million under estimates, enabling an additional 53 recovery act projects.
To date Missouri has spent $2.05 billion of the $2.42 billion in stimulus funding received from the federal government. In the final quarter of 2009, recipients estimated 16,022 jobs were created from stimulus funds in Missouri.
Related Links:
MoDOT Recovery Website
Missouri Stimulus Website
Recovery.gov, Federal Stimulus Website
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