The Recovery Act invested millions in new projects that are improving our infrastructue, repairing homes, and much more. But it also provided millions in direct benefits for families, students, businesses, investors, and more including more than $288 million in various forms of tax relief. Guidance on how to access each of those benefits is below.
Submitted by Center for Publ... on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 00:28
How is Texas Using Recovery Act Funds to Create 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.
Submitted by Center for Publ... on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 03:06
Building Texas: The 2010-2011 State Budget
Texas needs to make significant public investments in infrastructure and services to ensure our prosperity. Unfortunately, Texas is a low-tax state with a structural deficit. In 2006, the state made its structural deficit worse by pledging to pay for a local school property tax cut. The "hole" or uncovered cost of that tax cut is now almost $10 billion per biennium. To add to the state's woes, just before the legislative session began in 2009, the country went into a severe economic recession that substantially reduced state tax revenues.
Submitted by Center for Publ... on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 03:05
The Texas Recovery Plan
Public structures such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Unemployment Insurance were created to help families in tough economic times and to help the economy recover from a down cycle. These are indeed tough times—we face the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Tragically, many Texans are becoming aware for the first time of the crumbling nature of many of our public structures, weakened by years of neglect when times were good. Now that times are tough, we find our systems unprepared.
