Tuesday, February 24, 2009                                                                 Archive  |  Client Login

The $787B American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed by the President on February 17th. Within minutes of the signing, Missouri claimed the first project to be funded by the legislation, a project that Onvia published on January 14th.

Infrastructure spending remains a key driver in the final legislation. The funds will flow through a number of programs that we see falling into 5 basic categories: highways and bridges, school and college modernization, transit, water, and public housing.

This past Friday the President met with the US Conference of Mayors and with the National Governors Association over the weekend, emphasizing transparency and accountability. As transparency momentum builds, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has provided preliminary guidance to the federal agencies receiving funds. The 62-page memorandum outlines reporting requirements, timelines and recommended best practices for tracking recovery spending and job creation.

The Federal government, through OMB, has launched Recovery.gov to serve as the central point for tracking stimulus spending. Many state and local governments in your market are following this transparency lead by setting up websites to publicize projects, by example, Nebraska, Michigan, Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, Washington, and Alaska with more being announced every day.

Onvia continues to aggregate government purchasing at every level of government including federal, state, local, and education and is tracking the government economic recovery projects. Continue to watch for opportunities in your Onvia Guide and by logging into your Onvia account to find more detailed project information.

Thank you for continuing to send me your questions. We will be addressing your specific questions regarding the stimulus projects in our next issue later this week. If you have a question you would like answered, email me at mike@onvia.com.

Mike Pickett
Onvia President

OMB issues stimulus guidance to agencies

Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag issued initial guidance to agencies on Wednesday for administering stimulus funds, providing information and requirements on financial reporting, risk management and contracting.

The 62-page memorandum was sent to agency and department heads, who were directed to distribute the guidance to personnel involved in economic recovery-related activity. Orszag said the policies must take effect immediately to carry out the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The memo focused in particular on requiring agencies to regularly submit spending and performance data to recovery.gov, the online clearinghouse that provides information on how the stimulus funds are spent..

Government Executive, Elizabeth Newell, February 18, 2009
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=42069&dcn=e_gvet

PROMISES, PROMISES: Web site likely to fall short

President Barack Obama promised taxpayers they could track each of the billions and billions of dollars in spending Congress has approved to stimulate the nation's flailing economy and save its banks. It's a promise that's going to be difficult, if not impossible, to keep.

"We're actually going to set up something called Recovery.gov. This is going to be a special Web site we set up, that gives you a report on where the money is going in your community, how it's being spent, how many jobs it's being created so that all of you can be the eyes and ears," Obama told an audience last week in Indiana.

"And if you see that a project is not working the way it's supposed to, you'll be able to get on that Web site and say, 'You know, I thought this was supposed to be going to school construction, but I haven't noticed any changes being made.' And that will help us track how this money is being spent."

Except that it didn't work exactly as Obama suggested when the Web site went live Tuesday as Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package into law.

While the site breaks down the massive bill into broad categories, and provides state-by-state estimates of jobs that will be created, it does not provide any details on spending by community.

White House aides say they will provide more information as soon as they can, but they cannot predict which specific projects — this bridge or that highway, for instance — will be included, because states make those decisions.

The problem facing the administration is that it's impossible to put on the Web site decisions that have not yet been made.

Associated Press, Philip Elliott, February 18, 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHiaAoCbgJio65Us4MhU2Muxd7cgD96DHUG00

Missouri bridge project touted as 1st in stimulus

Missouri barely waited for President Barack Obama to sign the $787 billion stimulus package before it started using the money Tuesday for construction on what was believed to be the nation's first stimulus-fueled project.

Meeting at the foot of a crumbling, 76-year-old bridge, members of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission monitored Obama's bill signing by video and voted just seconds later to approve the bridge replacement and three other projects.

Within a minute, transportation commissioners handed a check for more than $200,000 to a contractor who had workers standing by. Gov. Jay Nixon sounded a horn, and a backhoe operator began digging a hole for a support beam of the new bridge while others began working on the old bridge.

The construction is to be handled by APAC-Kansas City, a division of Atlanta-based Oldcastle Materials Inc. A company spokeswoman said the bridge project is likely to employ 25 to 30 mostly local workers.

Associated Press, Chris Blank, February 17, 2009
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/02/missouri_bridge_project_touted.html

Stimulus bill's effect on SBA programs

The compromise bill passed by the House of Representatives on Friday provides about $730 million for SBA programs, according to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Here are some of the highlights. Many expire Sept. 30, 2010:

FEES
$375 million to temporarily waive or reduce fees in the 7(a) and 504 loan programs. Small-business borrowers have priority, followed by lenders with less than $1 billion in assets, then by large lenders. This should lower loan costs for borrowers and lenders.

LOAN GUARANTEES
$255 million to allow the SBA to temporarily raise its guarantee to as much as 90% for 7(a) loans, excluding SBA Express loans. Maximum guarantees are now 75% for loans of more than $150,000; 85% for loans of $150,000 or less.

MICROLOANS
$30 million for third parties in the microloan program: $24 million to pay for the business consulting they provide; $6 million for the cost of direct loans they make. This program, which focuses on businesses with fewer than 10 employees and loans of less than $35,000, has seen demand increase during the recession.

BRIDGE LOANS
Allows banks to make 100% SBA-guaranteed, small, short-term loans to existing SBA borrowers in immediate financial hardship. Borrowers have 12 months to begin repaying the bridge loan and five years to complete repayment. Applies to loans guarantees of $35,000 or less made after the bill is signed.

SECONDARY MARKET
To help unfreeze the secondary market in which third-party investors buy SBA loans that banks have sold to brokers-dealers, the bill allows the SBA to make loans to broker-dealers and guarantee as much as $3 billion of existing debts in loan pools that are currently not guaranteed. The secondary market has been moribund since the subprime mortgage meltdown.

SURETY BONDS
$15 million for the SBA's surety bond revolving fund and a temporary increase in the SBA guarantee limit on surety bonds to a maximum of $5 million from $2 million. Construction companies have had a hard time getting these bonds they need for contracts.

OVERSIGHT
Provides money for the SBA's Inspector General Office to oversee bill programs. Requires regular reports from the SBA on progress made.

Los Angeles Times, February 16, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/business/smallbusiness/la-fi-smallbizbox16-2009feb16%2c0%2c4823431.story