New York

To: Interested Parties
Fr: White House Communications
Da: April 22, 2009
Re: The Obama-Biden economic plan: creating jobs, strengthening the economy for New York families

Facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, President Obama started his Presidency with decisive action -- proposing and quickly passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Since the bill went into effect, the ARRA has already helped put money back in the pockets of 95 percent of working Americans, created and saved jobs across the country and made key investments in our community to help kickstart the economy. To ensure that the funds are spent efficiently and effectively, President Obama tasked Vice President Biden with overseeing the implementation of ARRA, and projects have already begun to come in under budget across the country. As the President prepares to introduce the details of his budget and further plans to revitalize the economy, here’s a look at how his policies have impacted New York in the first three months of his administration.

IMPACT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ECONOMIC POLICIES ON NEW YORK

Working Families:

Making Work Pay: The President’s tax-cut – which covers more Americans than any in history – is putting more than $3.4 billion back in the pockets of more than 7 million hard-working New York families.
$96,785,640 to support child care for working families.

Energy:

$175,122,300 in block grants to foster energy efficiency in building, transportation, and a wide range of other improvements.
$394,686,513 to support the weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment.
$123,110,000 to the State Energy Program, available for rebates to consumers for energy saving improvements; development of renewable energy projects; promotion of Energy Star products; efficiency upgrades for state and local government buildings; and other innovative state efforts to help save families money on their energy bills.

Education:

5,114,791,947 dollars potentially available to New York to lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save thousands of teaching jobs at risk due to state and local budget cuts.

Health Care:

$7,068,705 to fund 6 new Community Health Centers, which will serve an estimated 45,230 patients and create a projected 335 jobs
$19,439,038 to expand services at 51 existing Community Health Centers, which will expand service to an additional 89,524 patients and create or save a projected 323 jobs.
$6,191,164 to provide meals to low-income seniors.
$2,070,832,598 made available in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) to protect health care for the families hit hard by the economic crisis and some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens.
$12,118,648 in vaccines and grants to ensure more underserved Americans receive the vaccines they need.

Transportation:

$1,120,684,723 in highway funds to help build and repair roads and bridges.
$1,222,252,991 to repair and build public transportation infrastructure.
$25,040,153 to address airport safety and security, infrastructure, runway safety, increased capacity, and mitigation of environmental impacts.

Law Enforcement:

More than $110.5 million for state and local law enforcement assistance available through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. The JAG Program supports a variety of efforts such as hiring and support for law enforcement officers; multijurisdictional drug and gang task forces; crime prevention and domestic violence programs; and courts, corrections, treatment, and justice information sharing initiatives.

REAL RESULTS IN NEW YORK

Thanks to the Obama Administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, real impact is already being felt across the state.

Stimulus Funding Could Give NYPD Nearly 4,000 New Officers. "More than 3,900 new police officers could soon be working in New York City, thanks to extra federal funding. Approximately 400 cops could be hired in the next few months as part of the $1 billion set aside for new police officers in President Obama's economic stimulus package, Rep. Anthony Weiner said yesterday. The proposed Obama budget also includes federal funding for an additional 3,500 cops the city could hire over the next four years. The federal government would pick up 75% of the funding for those new hires as part of the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. ‘Our safety challenges can't take a backseat to our economic ones,’ said Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens). ‘The COPS program is a proven winner, cutting crime and making neighborhoods safe in New York City.’ The extra funds could offset last month's news that the NYPD was being forced by the city's fiscal crisis to cancel its 2010 rookie class, eliminating 1,000 positions." [New York Daily News, 3/1/09]

Westchester Officials Said $200 Million In Stimulus Aid Would Help Wide Variety of Projects, Help Create Over 200 Local Jobs. "So far, Westchester has received confirmation that more than $200 million in stimulus aid will reach the county in the next two years, ranging from $75 million in Medicaid relief funds to $4.5 million for energy conservation initiatives, county officials said. Some of the capital projects earmarked for stimulus funds include $2.8 million to rebuild the Odell Avenue Bridge over the Bronx River Parkway in Yonkers, $13.2 million for hybrid Bee-Line buses and maintenance, and $55 million toward the $235 million government-mandated upgrade of two sewage treatment plants along Long Island Sound in Mamaroneck and New Rochelle. ‘These are all projects that are currently in the county’s capital plan, but the fact that the county can get stimulus funding for those projects benefits our taxpayers, because that’s less money that the county has to bond for,’ said Karen Pasquale, senior assistant to the county executive, Andrew J. Spano. Without the federal commitment, the county would have had to delay some of the projects, which will now create more than 200 local jobs, said Susan Tolchin, the county executive’s spokeswoman. ‘These projects will create jobs, save energy and save tax dollars as well,’ Mr. Spano said." [New York Times, 4/18/09]

Schenectady County to Receive ARRA Funding to Provide Additional Job Training to the Unemployed, the Recently Laid Off & Youth; "The Money is Coming at a Time When Officials Say There is Record Demand for Employment Counseling & Training Services." "The county’s Employment and Training Department will be receiving $553,000 over the next two years under the federal economic stimulus act to provide additional job training to the young, the recently laid off and the unemployed. The department expects to have $360,000 of that money to spend this year, including $196,000 to be used to reimburse college tuition or other costs of training people for new careers. The money coming to Saratoga County through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is part of a $1.3 million appropriation for the state-designated Workforce Investment Area that covers Saratoga, Washington and Warren counties…The money is coming at a time when officials say there’s record demand for employment counseling and training services. Saratoga County’s One Stop employment center in Ballston Spa is seeing 600 to 800 people making appointments per month — a record level by recent standards…The stimulus money will provide a significant increase in job training funding for a department whose entire 2009 budget was $817,000. For most of the past decade, the federal government has been cutting job training funds, Scavone noted." [Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY), 4/15/09]

Stimulus Funding For Southern Tier Infrastructure Improvements Expected To Create Over 2,100 Jobs. "Gov. David Paterson visited the Tioga County New York State Department of Transportation garage on Wednesday to announce $89 million in Economic Recovery funding for Southern Tier infrastructure. The funding, according to Paterson, will create an estimated 2,136 jobs in the Southern Tier. According to Paterson, the first approved projects include bridge reconstructions, and maintenance and drainage improvements. Paterson outlined two rules for the projects; first, that they be shovel ready by June, and second that they are completed in three years. ‘This money will finance new employment opportunities, better infrastructure and make the improvements we need for a better tomorrow,’ Paterson said. ‘This means safer bridges in seven Southern Tier counties, including Tioga County.’" [Daily Review, 4/9/09]

New York Governor Paterson Announced That Stimulus Funds Will Create 1,776 Jobs in Rochester Region. "The 1,776 jobs expected to be created by the federal stimulus money earmarked for roads and bridges in the Rochester region give this spending package a patriotic ring. But in announcing the job-creation number in Canandaigua on Thursday, Gov. David Paterson noted that the projects must meet federal standards…To date, Paterson has certified projects for about $24 million of the $74 million that the seven-county region is scheduled to receive. The funds are slated to go to 115 projects." [Democrat and Chronicle, 4/10/09]

New York’s 30 Biomedical Research Facilities Will Benefit from Increased Funding for NIH, Could Create 5,000 Jobs. "Unfettered embryonic stem cell research may take years to cure diseases, but it could quickly boost New York's economy, with millions in federal funds for local research centers, elected officials and scientists said yesterday… Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said yesterday that curing juvenile diabetes and Parkinson's disease was a ‘moral imperative’ even as she noted that New York has more than 30 biomedical research facilities - including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Stony Brook University - that stand to benefit from NIH funding. ‘To create jobs in an industry that's growing is an imperative,’ Gillibrand said. Jon Cohen, chief policy adviser to Gov. David A. Paterson, said the NIH funding could create more than 5,000 jobs. ‘It's an economic driver,’ he said. ‘We have the infrastructure in place, so we're teed up to do this.’" [Newsday, 3/9/09]

State Agencies Anticipate Hiring Hundreds Of New Workers Because Of Stimulus Funding. The Times-Union reported, "State agencies anticipate hiring hundreds of workers because of the federal stimulus money on its way to New York, according to well-placed state government sources. Although Gov. David Paterson's budget office is downplaying agency projections on work force additions, two departments alone have recently estimated upward of 500 job opportunities could result. The Department of Labor estimates 300 to 500 jobs may arise because of $2.8 billion in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A substantial increase in unemployment benefits funding is also anticipated. Staff, particularly those with Spanish-speaking skills and in New York City, will be needed to work with laid-off people, according to the sources. The Labor Department, which gets 90 percent of its funds from the federal government already, also has proposed adding typists, an economist and auditors…DOT estimates hiring engineers, technicians and project and contract managers because of the infusion of funds for road and bridge construction." [Albany Times-Union, 3/2/09]

West Valley Demonstration Project Will Receive $74 Million In Stimulus Funding To Clean Up A Nuclear Storage Facility And Create 200 New Jobs. "The West Valley Demonstration Project will get $74 million in federal stimulus funding — enough to speed up the facility’s proposed cleanup by about three years and allow it to add as many as 200 new jobs, federal officials announced Tuesday. The stimulus money means a huge onetime shot of funding for the Cattaraugus County nuclear storage facility, which is in addition to the $80 million in federal money received this year and $57 million last year to fund its routine operations. The stimulus money, which is expected to be released shortly, will be used to design and build a storage system for 275 high-level nuclear waste canisters and move them out of the facility’s old reprocessing building, which is scheduled for decontamination and demolition, federal officials said." [The Buffalo News, 4/1/09]

Stimulus Money Has Made New York School Budget Cuts Unnecessary. "School officials across New York put down their red pencils on Friday and sighed with relief. Their budgets for the next school year will be funded at the same level as the current, 2008-09 spending. Gov. David A. Patterson’s announcement last week avoids the deep cuts and layoffs most districts had been anticipating. But while the federal stimulus money has made that unnecessary right now, schools can't keep on spending as they did before. In normal times, even level funding would frighten superintendents, who have grown used to 10 percent average increases in state aid over the past three years. Most schools will still have to cut to accommodate frozen state aid, because the public mood won't allow property tax increases. That's why superintendents should seek to deliver reductions in property tax bills this spring, paying forward the federal government's gifts to help struggling property owners. Long Island schools were told in mid-December that they faced a $157 million reduction in aid; surely, they have analyzed where to make cuts. Even though the federal money is intended to save teaching jobs, some will likely be lost because teacher contracts mandate raises."[Newsday, 3/2/09]

Albany County Airport Will Receive $6 Million In Stimulus Funds To Remove A Safety Hazard At The Airport. "A $6 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant under the federal stimulus package has been announced for the Albany County Airport Authority. The grant will be used to remove and replace the Latham water tower that has always been a safety concern for airplanes departing and landing safely on Runway 28 at Albany International Airport. ‘This federal funding will allow this long planned project to move forward much sooner than expected,’ said Senator Charles Schumer. ‘The old tank will no longer be a hazard, the Village will get a brand new one, and construction jobs will be created at a time when they are desperately needed. As someone who grew up in Upstate New York, I know this airport has always been critical to the economy of the region,’ said Senator Kristen Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. ‘These much needed federal funds will improve the Albany International Airport by removing the water tower, helping planes take off and land safely and efficiently.’" [Empire State News, 4/6/09]

NY-Based IBM Plans to Compete for High-Speed Rail Funding in Recovery Act. "International Business Machines Corp. is seeking a share of $8 billion the U.S. will spend on high-speed rail, part of an effort by the largest computer- service provider to tap into economic stimulus funds. The company already furnishes the reservation system for Amtrak, the U.S. long-distance passenger carrier. Armonk, New York-based IBM also has contracts in three other countries for high-speed-rail systems software… ‘We certainly feel we can provide those best practices and experience from the other countries,’ said Ken Donnelly, strategy and product management executive for IBM’s Aerospace and Defense Strategy division." [Bloomberg, 3/24/09]