Stimulus Successes Difficult To Pinpoint
POSTED: 8:49 pm MST November 17,
2009
UPDATED: 9:52 am MST November 18,
2009
PHOENIX -- Education and transportation have benefited the most from federal stimulus dollars, according to Valley experts.The Arizona Department of Education has received $393,640,833, according to Recovery.gov.The Arizona Department of Transportation has received $336,547,855.Beyond that, experts say it’s impossible to say who has been helped by stimulus spending and who has not.“You can't really compare apple to apples,” said Tim James, an economist at the W.P. Carey School of Business.James said there is a large amount of data and it been put together in different formats.He said the Valley’s geography also makes it difficult to determine who is benefiting from stimulus dollars. “We are all sort of mixed up in terms of one city running into another, and the effect sort of flowing over into one boundary, like Phoenix into Glendale or Chandler,” said James.Will Barnow, the Federal Relations Intergovernmental Coordinator for Maricopa County, tracks the millions of stimulus dollars being spent here.He said it is difficult to pinpoint the successes."There are a lot of different programs out there and it's hard to keep an eye on them,” he said. "I can say for sure that Maricopa County is accepting the funding for a variety of projects that help a whole lot of different people."James said the only clear loss so far is in infrastructures.There are no major projects to improve Arizona’s water, telecommunications or transportation systems.“California and Nevada made a big play, for instance, for rail structure where we didn't seem to go for go for those really big heavy construction projects,” he said.
Copyright 2009 by KPHO.com. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.








