ARRA

Congress is finally on the verge of extending the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s extra weeks of jobless insurance benefits. Doing so is critical to helping hardworking Texans who cannot find jobs and to sustaining our economic recovery.

Congress should now take a second important step and extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s help to states to balance their budgets. Texas balanced its present budget with federal help that largely runs out by December 31. By providing additional help, Congress can help Texas prevent job-killing state spending cuts.

We urge Senator Hutchison and Senator Cornyn to act quickly to help Texas.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has been critically important in protecting the Texas economy and helping families and communities recover from the recession. For example, in the first quarter of 2010, ARRA programs helped Texas gain an estimated 79,000 jobs; without ARRA, Texas would have lost 126,000 jobs.

Even as the economy recovers from the devastating recession that has plagued it for the past few years, unemployment remains far too high. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) aimed to create jobs, partially by allocating $3.1 billion to Workforce Investment Act programs that provide training and support to job-seekers. Texas received more than $170 million to fund job creation programs in our state, and the U.S. Labor Department issued new guidelines that made it easier for states to make use of the money. To date, Texas has exceeded performance goals for the Summer Youth Employment program and expended most of its WIA Youth funds. In some areas, though, Texas has lagged behind in making sure that ARRA job creation funding is put to good use. This policy page evaluates what Texas can do better to create jobs and ensure that training and job support goes to those who need it most.

Texas, like many other states, has been slow to implement weatherization services since receiving $327 million in September 2009 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). As of February 2010, only 2 percent of total funds have been expended and approximately 3.2 percent of homes weatherized out of the estimated 34,000 slated for service.

This policy point provides a synopsis of the Texas Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) with updates on the progress made during the first six months of the program. For our full analysis of the Texas WAP, see "It’s Getting Hot in Here: Texas Weatherization Assistance Program Provides Relief to Low-Income Families and Creates Jobs for the New Economy."