| Vol. 4 No. 3 February 5, 2009 |
| Reflections/Jonathan Gramling Jumpstarting recovery |
| As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act winds its way through Congress, the federal and state governments have been busy preparing for the rather quick approval and release of the almost $1 trillion package. On February 5, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined a conference call of Midwestern media outlets to talk about the infrastructure stimulus that would be coming down the pike. According to LaHood, the projects will be 100 percent federally funded. All of the state secretaries of transportation have been invited to the White House on February 11 to discuss the stimulus package and have been asked to bring ‘shovel-ready’ projects with them for US DOT to review. Ruben Anthony Jr., deputy secretary of WisDOT will be representing Secretary Frank Busalacchi. The state of Wisconsin has been busy preparing for the stimulus package as well. Governor James Doyle created the Office of Recovery and Reinvestment (ORR). The ORR is headed up on a volunteer basis by Gary Wolter, ceo of MG&E. His deputy is Al Fish, a vice-chancellor at the UW-Madison. The ORR is staffed by state employees who have been designated by their departments to work with the ORR Reggie Newson, WisDOT’s operations director for southeast region, is WisDOT’s liaison to the ORR. “We’re set up to accept the stimulus funds through the Office of Recovery and Reinvestment,” Newson said in a phone interview with The Capital City Hues. “And internally at WisDOT, we have an oversight committee made up of our executive and senior management. Basically we are looking at the different pots of money that have been identified currently in the House and Senate versions of the bill. We’re developing plans based on all of those different scenarios and I think we should be prepared for whatever the final bill says to receive whatever allocation is identified in the final bill.’ Depending on the final version of the bill that will have to go through a House-Senate conference committee and pass both houses of Congress before being signed by President Obama, ‘shovel-ready’ projects should have crews out working by June. There are a number of projects the state is looking at. “Historically, we have more needs than funding,” Newson said. “So we will be looking at a variety of projects statewide on the Interstate, state trunk highways and local projects. Locals will also take on projects like repairing and extending the useful life of the roads. We will also be repairing and extending the useful life of our bridges as well as looking at potential rail projects being put in place.” Among the projects the governor is looking at is improvement of passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Racine. Local governments would also receive infrastructure stimulus funds according to the current versions of the bill. “In both versions of the current bill, you would see dollars come directly to the states for state projects, but also to the local municipalities for projects of their own,” Newson said. While the bills are on a speedy process for passage, they would still have some traditional federal requirements. “If there are federal dollars, there are DBE requirements,” Newson said. DBEs are primarily minority and women owned small businesses. “The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment is working to understand the stimulus package, identify obstacles and try to get things in place to help remove barriers and help funds move quickly,” Newson said. “We will also attempt to serve as a resource to local governments and help them coordinate and access dollars that come out of the stimulus package. I think it’s a pretty exciting time for the state of Wisconsin.” While many may look at Black History as something static, to be looked at in terms of things that happened decades or centuries ago, Black History is happening right before out eyes. Imagine an African American U.S. President pushing a stimulus bill through Congress and then an African American deputy secretary representing Wisconsin at a White House meeting on the stimulus bill. Who would have thought? History continues to be made. While it appears there may be some new opportunities for MBEs and people of color to do business with the state of Wisconsin as a result of the federal stimulus package, everyone should be paying attention. This train is going to leave the station quickly and soon. Everyone aboard? |
| The Inauguration Barack Obama Inaugural Coverage from Washington, D.C. |