Friday, January 16, 2009                                                                      Archive  |   Client Login

There have been numerous meetings between Congress, President-Elect Obama, and interested parties this past week. While much of the activity was about getting cabinet candidates vetted by Congress, there was ongoing conversation conversations and press conferences about how to stimulate the economy. On January 15th the House Appropriations Committee revealed the $825B American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, the legislation that we have been tracking.

Congress and the Administration continue to negotiate the contents of the economic recovery bill, and all of the interested parties, states, cities, and industry groups, continue to present their wish list to anyone connected with the bill. All of the parties are trying to complete this process by February 15th.

Here’s some highlights of what we see in the bill:

• $90B Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways
• $36B Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology
• $140B Education for the 21st Century
• $54B Clean, Efficient, American Energy

The bill contains no earmarks.

As we’ve previously reported, there will be unprecedented levels of accountability included in the stimulus bill through the creation of a Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, headed by the Chief Performance Officer. This board is chartered with the oversight of recovery dollars and will provide early warning of any problems.

In order for you to better prepare and understand the impact of the economic recovery legislation on the local and state communities, we have published a set of state-by-state toolkits for purchase. We believe that those who are prepared can increase their chances of winning these opportunities once they are funded. 50 individual State reports that include:

• State Specific Stimulus Project Watch Lists – Use the watch list of over 16, 000 shovel-ready projects to prepare your strategy.
• Stimulus Bill FAQs – Get yourself up to speed and ready to start pursuing projects as soon as they are funded detailed responses to your most frequently asked questions about the about the upcoming American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan.
• State Capital Spending Overview – Monitor the flow of funding to projects and deploy your resources accordingly by understanding the key mechanisms each state uses to spend the funding.

State Readiness Evaluation – Build your RFP strategy by targeting the states, counties, and cities that can quickly take advantage of the recovery funding. You will have the criteria to evaluate the readiness of a state to begin projects quickly once funding is available.

The Economic Stimulus Toolkit is a one-of-a-kind offer for any business seeking to participate and succeed with the American Recovery & Reinvestment projects. Click Here http://www.onviatools.com if you would like to purchase a toolkit.

Also the webcast that was held this past week was graded very positively by attendees for providing information that can be applied today. If you did not get a chance to attend, click here to download the recording.

We are a month or so from the next milestone, the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill. We will continue to keep you informed about new developments and bring you first hand insight into the government stimulus initiative. It has been great to hear from so many of you in recent weeks; please continue to send me your questions and I will answer them directly or address them in a future Stimulus Advisory, mike@onvia.com.

Mike Pickett
Onvia President

Democrats in House Unveil $825 Billion Stimulus Bill

House Democrats on Thursday unveiled an $825 billion economic recovery package, an expansive combination of spending and tax cuts that aims to put millions of unemployed Americans back to work and halt what is widely believed to be the nation’s worst recession since the Depression.

Some of the largest components include $87 billion for a temporary increase in aid to states for Medicaid costs; $79 billion in aid to local school districts and public colleges to prevent cutbacks; $90 billion in infrastructure spending; and $54 billion to encourage energy production from renewable sources.

The stimulus plan, which House Democrats have called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009,” is the centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s early agenda, and it also seeks to make good on some of his signature campaign promises, including an income tax cut for most Americans earning less than $200,000 a year.

MSNBC.com January 7, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/business/economy/16webstimulus.html

Procurement officials predict increase in contractor accountability

Transparency and accountability will likely be top procurement priorities when President-elect Barack Obama takes office, federal acquisition officials said during a panel discussion in Washington on Thursday.

Contractors should expect more scrutiny than they received under the Bush administration, which focused on ensuring that agency actions were transparent, said Joanie Newhart, senior procurement executive for the Transportation Department, during a discussion hosted by the Association for Federal Information Resources Management.

"Accountability is now a shared responsibility," said Tyree Varnado, acting commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration.

Nextgov.com, Gautham Nagesh January 15, 2009

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090115_2335.php


House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi Weekly Legislative Briefing

Discusses the economic recovery bill and the House schedule and content of the bill.

Cspan, Nancy Pelosi, January 15, 2009

http://www.cspan.org/Watch/watch.aspx?ProgramId=HP-A-40164

Making Sure Infrastructure Stimulus Isn't a Pork Parade

There were 6,371 earmarks in the last highway bill President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is days away from releasing the details of an economic stimulus plan. If, as expected, more than $200 billion is directed toward transportation infrastructure, federal funding for roads, bridges, and transit will exceed spending in more typical years by more than a third. In 2008, for example, the federal government spent $70 billion. This raises the question: where will all this money go? Under the current system, pork. And more pork.

States receive most transportation funding from the federal government based on a complex formula. The money isn't given to projects based on their potential economic impact, efficiency or effectiveness. Congress allocates a large chunk through a process driven by special interests and earmarks. The number of "earmarks"-specific projects inserted into transportation legislation by individual members of Congress-increased from just 10 in 1982, to 1,850 in 1998, to 6,371 in the 2005 federal highway bill. Throwing a couple hundred billion dollars into this system with a mandate to "spend it fast" is a recipe for waste that won't meet the stimulus goals of the incoming Obama administration.

Hawaii Reporter, By Samuel Staley and Adrian Moore, 1/12/2009 8:42:14 AM

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?c7bc5a96-977a-48f6-9de0-925a3ccb6352

NWI infrastructure needs total $300 million

PORTAGE -- Northwest Indiana cities, towns and counties have given 280 separate requests, totaling about $300 million, for projects in the national infrastructure program that is the bulk of President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus package.

Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission planner Gary Evers presented the list Tuesday to the agency's Transportation Planning Committee, saying he expects the list to grow before it is submitted to the Indiana Department of Transportation, which will send it on to Washington with all the other requests from Indiana. NIRPC Planning Director Steve Strains said the Department of Transportation sent out a request in December for communities and counties to submit local projects to be put on the state list.

Post Tribune, Charles M. Bartholomew, June 14, 2009

http://www.post-trib.com/news/1375781%2cnirpc1.article

NIRPC project list - http://www.post-trib.com/news/1376502%2cprojects1.article

US stimulus bill may have health IT funds-Verizon

Congress' economic stimulus package may include $20 billion for the government's Medicaid health insurance program and others to adopt health information technology (IT), which would create jobs and improve medical care, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) chief executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday.

A key component of any legislation would be to give the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to set uniform, interoperable standards for health IT software, which would "jump-start the market" for it, Seidenberg said.

"It's cost effective, it's timely and it definitely will be transformative," he told reporters at a Business Roundtable briefing on health IT. Health IT would let doctors integrate a patient's lab test results, treatment history, and other data to improve care and cut costs

Reuters, January 14, 2009

http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN1447036320090114

Long Island is shovel-ready

That was the message Monday as a convoy of 83 cranes, dump trucks and payloaders stretched nearly a mile along the Long Island Expressway to dramatize the lack of construction jobs in Nassau and Suffolk.

Contractors and union leaders, backed by federal, state and local officials, called for Congress and president-elect Barack Obama to use federal stimulus funding to help pay for local projects.

"We want to tell Long Island and the rest of the nation that we are ready to get to work," said Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors Association, a trade group, at a news conference in Hauppauge. Starting in Hauppauge, the column of 83 big rigs crawled slowly Monday morning in the right-hand lane of the westbound expressway until it reached an office park in Melville. The convoy stretched three-quarters of a mile, organizers said.

Indianapolis Star, Robert Annis, January 2, 2009

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-liconv0113%2c0%2c7087435.story

Obama Has a Bright IT Vision

President-elect Barack Obama has an aggressive plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure, from improving highways to making ubiquitous the 21st century classroom. This is good news for all, but solution providers who have dealings in the government channel may be the ones benefiting the most.

According to a recent report by market research firm Onvia, major projects will dot the 2009 landscape in construction of roads and bridges, 21st-century school projects, health care IT and modernization of energy-inefficient government facilities. That’s good news for solution providers who work in the health care, education and government sectors.

The report, Onvia’s 2009 Government Market Outlook, is the result of conversations with 4,000 government executives, managers and purchasing officials at state, local and educational purchasing offices. It noted that the proposed economic stimulus package is driving the majority of the spending.

Channelinsider, Charlene O'Hanlon, January 15, 2009

http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/News/Obama-Has-Bright-IT-Vision/