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Coverage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – the nearly-$800 billion stimulus package designed to jump-start the economy.

How to spend $787 billion

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By on Economic Stimulus, OMB

The Office of Management and Budget issued a 62-page memo (pdf) to agency heads today detailing how to manage the $787 billion in stimulus funding approved by lawmakers and signed into law by President Obama yesterday. Among other things, the guidance outlines the steps agencies must take to report their spending and program performance data to the Recovery.gov website that’s been created to track how every stimulus dollar is spent and how many jobs are created. The guidance also establishes requirements for agencies to meet the White House’s accountability objectives, OMB Director Peter Orszag said. Additional OMB guidance is forthcoming, Orszag said.

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An early look at Recovery.gov

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By on Economic Stimulus

The president hasn’t yet signed the economic stimulus bill, but you can already get a glimpse of Recovery.gov, the Web site intended to track stimulus spending. There isn’t much content on the site yet, of course, but the one thing we find interesting is the timeline at the bottom. It sets out milestones for agencies — federal, state and local — to begin reporting on their stimulus spending. A few highlights: On May 3 (75 days from now), agencies release “performance plans” on how they’re using their stimulus dollars; On May 20, they begin reporting their competitive grants and contracts;…

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The calm before the storm

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By on Economic Stimulus

The division of labor in Washington is interesting. Staffers on Capitol Hill must be relieved that the economic stimulus bill has passed through Congress; at federal agencies, though, the work is just beginning. (Today is a well-timed federal holiday — a bit of calm before the storm!) There’s an interesting article in the New York Times about state and local governments scrambling to compete for stimulus cash. This is, after all, the largest infrastructure investment in generations. Several states said they have dozens of projects ready to start within six months — including at least 5,000 transportation projects. All of this…

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Spending stimulus money is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?

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By on Agencies, Economic Stimulus, OMB

How will agencies spend stimulus money? Let me count the ways. According to Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., agencies have five different ways they can disburse their stimulus funds and meet tight spending deadlines in place under the bill: “By formula,” meaning agencies will use existing statutory requirements for programs like highway infrastructure investments or Medicaid to determine how much each state or municipality is entitled to. “By competition,” meaning states, localities or contractors will submit proposals for grants and contracts. “By demand” to programs with eligibility requirements, such as unemployment insurance, education grants, small business loans and food stamps. “By one-time…

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Stimulus bill nearly through Congress

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By on Congress, Economic Stimulus

The Senate is expected to vote later Friday on the conference report on the $787 billion economic stimulus package, sending the bill to President Barack Obama in the next few days. Earlier Friday, the House voted 246-183 to approve the conference report for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which merged the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. No Republicans voted for the report, while seven Democrats voted against. When the House voted on the bill last week, 11 Democrats voted against it. The Senate is discussing the stimulus package now on the floor, though a…

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Direct hire authority for Energy in stimulus bill

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By on Economic Stimulus, HR Management

The Energy Department is about to get the power to hire people much more quickly. The final version of the stimulus bill includes a provision that allows the department to “recruit and directly appoint highly qualified individuals into the competitive service” when there’s a severe shortage of candidates or a critical hiring need. Excepted service and Senior Executive Service positions will be excluded from Energy’s direct hire authority. But aside from that, Energy will have a wide berth to decide when it needs to directly hire employees, and for what positions. The stimulus bill can be downloaded from the House…

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White House to agencies: On stimulus planning don't delay! Act now!

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By on Agencies, Economic Stimulus, OMB, White House

Although the details of what should be the final stimulus bill have only just been made public, earlier this week the White House ordered agencies to get cracking on plans to manage and oversee the unprecedented amount of spending they’ll be asked to do. In a Feb. 9 memo first reported by Government Executive, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag wrote: Meeting these commitments will require sustained focus by managers throughout the federal government, particularly in planning, awarding, managing and overseeing contracts and grants. Departments and agencies should immediately begin developing plans…

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Postal benefits change not part of stimulus

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By on Economic Stimulus, Postal Service

We reported last week that Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., introduced an amendment to the stimulus bill that would allow the Postal Service to pay its current retiree health benefits out of the trust fund earmarked for future retiree benefits. That change would help the Postal Service plug its budget deficit, expected to top $3 billion this year. Well, Carper introduced the amendment four times — but it doesn’t seem to be part of the final stimulus bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday. The bil doesn’t mention the Postal Service at all. Obviously, Congress can still pass separate legislation; H.R. 22,…

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No whistleblower protections for feds in stimulus

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By on Economic Stimulus

Congress stripped whistleblower protections for federal employees from the compromise stimulus bill today, according to the Project on Government Oversight. “Accountability got mugged today when congressional leaders stripped federal whistleblower protections from their compromise ‘stimulus’ bill,” POGO said in a press release reacting to the bill today. “POGO will keep fighting to get federal whistleblowers the protections they need when they disclose the inevitable waste and fraud they will be witnessing.” Last month an amendment to the House version of the bill proposed to expand whistleblower protections to all federal employees, including those involved in national security.

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House, Senate reach stimulus agreement

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By on Congress, Economic Stimulus

House and Republican leaders have ironed out differences in the different versions of the economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Wednesday afternoon. “The bills were really quite similar, and I’m please to announce that we’ve been able to bridge those differences. Like any negotiation, this involved give and take, and if you don’t mind my saying so, that’s an understatement,” he said during a press conference. The full details of the changes in the now $789 billion bill haven’t been released, but Reid was joined by the three Senate Republicans who crossed party lines to back the…

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