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.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Signed by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a landmark piece of legislation that aims to create jobs, stimulate the economy, and support Americans struggling under the weight of a severe economic recession. The bill provided for unprecedented investments in education, energy, infrastructure, and more; and it allocated hundreds of billion of dollars in direct benefits and tax relief for individuals, families, and businesses at a time when it is needed most.
The stated goals of the law were:
(1) To preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery.
(2) To assist those most impacted by the recession.
(3) To provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances in science and health.
(4) To invest in transportation, environmental protection, and other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.
(5) To stabilize State and local government budgets, in order to minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and counterproductive state and local tax increases.
Federal lawmakers used multiple avenues to deliver on these goals, with three broad categories being direct assistance, tax relief, and investment through contracts, grants, and loans:
Those strategies overlapped into a number of issue areas:
The Recovery Act puts an emphasis on providing aid to low income individuals and families. Federal lawmakers used a cmbination of existing programs and new intitiatives to deliver assistance, including:
Increase in food stamp program: $19 billion
Increases in Pell Grants for college tuition: $16 billion
"American Opportunity" tuition tax credit: $14 billion
Earned Income Tax Credit increase: $5 billion Increases in worker training funding: $4 billion
Child Care and Development Block Grants: $2 billion Funding for additional Head Start enrollment: $2 billion
TANF emergency contingency fund: $5 billion
Community Services Block Grants: $1 billion
Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income households ($5 billion)
For more information:
Read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
