The stimulus anecdote war is escalating. This week Sen. Tom Coburn issued a report that is highly critical of some 100 specific Recovery Act projects around the country. The Oklahoma Republican uses these examples to bolster his argument that "Congress chose the wrong approach to stimulating the economy by spending money we don't have on things we don't need."More...
Editor's Note: As states struggle to coordinate the Recovery Act's many disconnected funding "silos" for energy efficiency, renewable energy, green jobs, and workforce development, Maine has enacted a solution: the Efficiency Maine Trust. The EMT will coordinate and/or consolidate Maine's Recovery Act funding streams -- $100 million over the two years -- to help ensure that the state captures permanent improvements in skills, wages, contractors, and efficiency.More...
While many students head home, start their summer jobs, or begin long vacations, WISPIRG students spent their first full week of summer vacation travelling across the state to build support for high-speed rail in Wisconsin. We are happy to report it was a huge success! More than thirty students participated in the trip doing ten events from Green Bay to Milwaukee to Madison to La Crosse. Over the course of the week we had nearly 20 media outlets attend and met with 15 federal, state and local leaders at events in Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Milwaukee, Brookfield, Oconomowoc, Madison, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, and La Crosse. In order for the project to get built, it needs to be a priority for elected officials and the public. The students' trip created needed momentum for the project.More...
May 1, 2009 -- Activists from across the southeastern U.S. gathered in Atlanta this week to hear from national experts on the Recovery Act and to discuss plans for promoting a stimulus accountability agenda in their individual states. The regional conference was the first public event sponsored by States for a Transparent and Accountable Recovery.
Participants came from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.More...
