The bill, which was introduced last week, will contain more than $500 billion in spending that — coupled with more than $200 billion in tax cuts — Congress hopes will stimulate the economy and drag the country out of recession.
But where will all this spending go? No one’s exactly sure, Moran said, and that is why now is the time for localities across the country to be lobbying for a piece of this federal funding.
“The biggest threat, these economists tell us, is that whatever the government does it will be too little and too late. So we’re going to act posthaste,” Moran said. “Those communities, those organizations that are ready with projects that can begin immediately are the ones who are going to get the money.”
LAST WEEK, Moran convened an emergency meeting of local leaders from across his 8th Congressional district, which covers Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County. With less than 24 hours notice, more than a dozen elected officials from across the region assembled in Arlington County’s Government Office for a briefing on the details of the economic stimulus bill.
Moran said that the hastily organized meeting was necessary because of the amount of money involved in the bill and the extremely accelerated pace at which it is moving through Congress.
The bill contains billions of dollars for transportation, energy, education, healthcare and technology, among other areas. Moran said that the spending would revitalize the country’s infrastructure and decrease unemployment. “The emphasis is upon jobs,” he said. “That’s what it’s about: getting people to work, hiring as many people as you can.”
But Moran said that this opportunity to procure huge sums of federal money would be short lived. “Once this is done the gates may start to close,” he said. “So we need to be on board right now. I’m not sure how much longer we’re going to be able to put out more money given the deficit situation.”
JAY FISETTE, the vice-chair of the Arlington County Board, said that, because Arlington County plans its projects decades in advance, it has dozens of “shovel-ready” projects that could start immediately with an infusion of federal cash.
“We have a whole host of [projects] that we would like to put forward. But right now, in these budget times, we don’t have the money,” he said. “We’re ready because we have a good plan in place. … For us to put together a list of ways we can use the money won’t be that hard.”
Among the many groups that could see a windfall as a result of this bill are Arlington’s health information technology firms. The bill contains $20 billion for the digitization of health care records and Moran said that there are several contracting firms based out of Northern Virginia that specialize in this field.
Other groups that could see federal funding from the stimulus bill are local public school systems. As proposed, the bill contains $14 billion for the renovation of public schools across the country.
Frank Shafroth, Moran’s chief of staff, said that this money could go towards making Northern Virginia’s school buildings more energy efficient, similar to Alexandria’s recently rebuilt T.C. Williams High School. “I don’t think we can make T.C. more energy efficient,” he said, “But some of the other schools can take advantage of this.”
