Arizona State Jobs Expect Billions from ARRA
Is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act doing its part to create Arizona state jobs and other positions throughout the state? The answer to that question depends on who you ask.
As of the end of September, a total of $139 million in contracts had helped to create or save about 657 jobs in Arizona. While that may seem like a large number, naysayers think it is only a small number compared to the total number of jobs the stimulus is expected to create throughout the state.
Overall, Arizona is expected to receive about $14.6 billion in federal stimulus money, but so far the state has only seen about 1 percent of that.
According to an article by The Arizona Republic, more than $6 billion has been earmarked for state and local governments in Arizona. So far, money has gone to federal agencies and private businesses as well as state and local governments.
One reason why Arizona has only seen a small percentage of its expected total from the stimulus is the fact that half of the federal work slated throughout the state has yet to begin. In addition, firms in Arizona have another $32 million in stimulus contracts for work outside the state, but most of that work is still in early planning stages.
Two projects have accounted for almost half of the jobs created or saved in Arizona, including the Tres Rios Wetlands-restoration project in Tolleson and the construction of 14 new homes for the poor and elderly on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Tucson.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Arizona has lost 268,000 jobs since the recession began in December 2007.
President Barack Obama has estimated that the stimulus could help create or save 70,000 jobs in Arizona, including indirect benefits from provisions such as tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits.
White House officials recently reported that the stimulus has created or saved anywhere from 600,000 jobs to 1.5 million jobs throughout the country.