Arkansas Recovery Hotline: 1-877-682-1515
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Arkansas will receive approximately $2.9 billion dollars of federal funding made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The vast majority of this funding will be passed through existing federal programs. Below are 5 state departments that are receiving a significant amount of ARRA funding.
Arkansas Department of Education
(no positions requested)
$807,606,000 (includes Higher Education Programs such as Pell Grants)
The Department of Education is scheduled initially to receive $228.8 million in formula grant funding. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) may apply for a portion of an additional $43.2 million in grants. These funds are in addition to the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds outlined below.
For state and local education agencies (LEAs)- school districts, the first round of ARRA funding:
Title I, A (50% of the available funding in initial allocation) $111.1
} Title I is a federal entitlement program that provides funds to school districts with high percentages of children who are disadvantaged to ensure that they have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
IDEA, B (50% of the available funding in initial allocation) $117.7
} Part B funds are allocated to the states and sub-allocated by the State Education Agency to LEAs by statutory formula. Under the IDEA, a state may receive a grant only if it submits a state plan with assurances that it has in effect policies to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to children with disabilities in the state between the ages of 3 and 21, and to meet many other requirements related to due process, how these students are served, and how the federal grant funds are used.
} Preschool grants under Section 619 of IDEA are allocated to states that are eligible to receive Part B funds and that make a free appropriate public education available to all children with disabilities, aged 3 through 5, residing in the state. At the local level, funds typically are used for salaries of special education teachers and costs associated with related services, including, but not limited to, speech-language pathology services, physical and occupational therapy, psychological services, parent counseling and training, and social work services in schools.
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (67% of the funding is in the initial allocation)--$341.1
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund is designed to prevent reductions in critical education and other services. The Recovery Act divides that funding into three parts: (1) basic stabilization funds; (2) State incentive grants; and (3 local education agency innovation grants. Governors must divide their state's allocation of the fund total between education (81.8%) and other government services, which can include education (18.2%). The designated education allocation must first be used to restore support for K-12 and post secondary education to the greater of the (state) FY 08 or FY09 level.
LEAs receiving these sub-grants may use the funds for any activity authorized by the ESEA, the IDEA, the Adult and Family Literacy Act, the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, or for modernization, renovation, and repair of public school facilities.
Department of Human Services
(143 ARRA positions)
DHS expects to receive ARRA funding by two mechanisms:
· Direct funding to existing federal programs
· Enhanced Medicaid Match Rate
Direct federal funding to existing programs
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--Projected $269,000,000 in total benefits for low-income Arkansans
} Clients will receive a 15.3% increase in their monthly benefit
} Provides states with 100% federal funding to pay increased administrative costs
Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)-- $48,114,415 through March 2012
} Enables low-income Arkansans to permanently reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient…for example an income limit for an household size of 4 would be $44,100
} Arkansas’s goal is to weatherize approximately 6500 homes by March 2012
} Services are coordinated through 14 local Community Action Agencies and the Universal Housing Development Corporation
} Individuals or a family whose income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level and whose home was not previously weatherized prior to September 30, 1994 may qualify.
Child Care Development Funds (CCDF)-- $25,133,768 through December 2010
} Approximately $3.6M for quality initiatives, $1.25M for targeted infant toddler initiatives, and $19M for new low-income voucher spending
} Provides funds to:
◦ increase the availability, affordability, and quality of child care services for low-income families
◦ improve the quality of child care to support the health and well-being of children
◦ Serve approximately 6,000 more children throughout the two year period
Community Services Block Grant (CSGB)--$13,595,871
} Provides funds through local community action agencies for:
◦ outreach, coordination, and planning activities to increase public awareness; and,
◦ utilization of services made available through the federal stimulus
◦ Services are coordinated through the local Community Action Agencies (CAAs)
◦ Each of the CAAs Recovery Project Plans are currently under review to determine how they intend to utilize the funds within their communities
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program-- $11,212,943 through September 2012
} Provides financial assistance and services to either:
◦ prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless; or,
◦ help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized
IDEA Part C early Intervention Program (EI)-- $3,966,341 through June 2011
} Provides grants to states for developing a data collection and reporting infrastructure on services available for children birth to 3 years
◦ Example initiatives include system enhancements, child find assessment, trainings and rural demonstration grants among others
Programs for Seniors
◦ Congregate Meals-- $648,133 through September 2010
◦ Home Delivered Meals-- $319,081 through September 2010
◦ Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP)-- $431,800 through June 2010
◦ Older Workers Program
Programs for Blind and/or Severely Visually Impaired
◦ Independent Living Rehabilitation Services (ILRS)-- $29,150 through September 2010
◦ Vocational Rehabilitation (VR)-- $395,390 through September 2010
◦ Older Blind Program-- $353,503 through September 2010
AmeriCorps Program-- $775,967 through October 2010
} Provides for the placement of 21 full-time AmeriCorps members to serve throughout Arkansas
◦ AmeriCorps volunteers provide tutoring for at-risk youth, coordinate health fairs and provide environmental awareness and leadership trainings
Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)--$1,091,708 for food purchases and $273,611 program administration
◦ Provides food on an emergency basis for families in need, the homeless, and to supplement low-income food programs in the state
Enhanced Medicaid Match Rate
◦ The Medicaid federal match rate is increased from its current 72.81% to 79.14% for nine federal fiscal quarters, dating back to October 1, 2008, with possible additional increases depending on the change in Arkansas’s unemployment rates. This will result in over $575,000,000 in savings from reduced Medicaid match requirements
Systems transformation
} Medicaid savings will largely support the existing Medicaid program---a portion of it will be used to strengthen DHS’s critical infrastructure needs such as enhancing automation and purchasing equipment
} Due to the time-limited nature of the enhanced match rate, the focus is on launching or strengthening programs that will generate long term savings
Department of Workforce Services
(107 ARRA positions)
Unemployment
Extension of EUC 08 —ARRA extended this program to expire with EUC claims filed on or before the week ending December 26, 2009 with a phase out period through the week ending June 5, 2010.
Federal Additional Compensation (FAC)—This program pays claimants receiving regular UI, EUC 08, Trade Readjustment Allowances, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, or Extended Benefits an additional $25 per week.
Waiver of Federal Income Tax— Waiver of federal income tax on the first $2,400 of UI benefits paid during tax year 2009.
Federal Funding of Extended Benefits Program — ARRA provides that the federal government will pay 100% of state EB costs.
UI Modernization— $59.9 million Under ARRA ,states that adopt legislation expanding UI coverage are eligible to receive incentive payments. Arkansas has adopted the required provisions.
Employment and Training
• Employment Services to Job Seekers and Employers
• Youth, Adult and Dislocated Worker Skills Enhancement, Employment and Training Programs - $24.6 million
• Tax Credits to Employers for Hiring Hard to Serve Individuals
• National Emergency Grants for Mass Lay-offs
• The Department of Labor has modified Alternative Trade Adjustment Assistance (ATAA), now known as Reemployment Trade Adjustment Assistance, to allow eligible workers to work part time and participate in TAA approved training.
• In addition to the manufacturing sector, this change allows inclusion of trade based job loss from companies in the services sector and from the public sector and certain agricultural jobs after May 18, 2009.
• TAA SERVICES AND BENEFITS
◦ Reemployment Services (Interviewing Skills, Application & Resume Preparation, Job Search Tips)
◦ Job Search and Relocation Reimbursement
◦ Training (Including Tuition, Books, Fees & Approved Supplies)
◦ Income Support
◦ Training Waivers
◦ Health Coverage Tax Credit
ARRA temporarily reduces the premium for COBRA coverage for eligible individuals.
Arkansas Department of Economic Development
(10 ARRA positions)
Arkansas Energy Office--$49 million
• State Energy Programs--$39 million
• Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant (EECBG) small cities and counties--$10 million
• Appliance Rebate Program--$2.74 million
• Energy Emergency Planning/Smart Grid--$462,000
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)--$5 million
• Eligible cities and counties for public infrastructure and construction projects
Arkansas State Police
(3 ARRA Positions)
$580, 983 over the course of 48 months, with $113,114 dedicated to sub grant funding.
The Recovery Act portion of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Grant Program provides federal funding to the Arkansas State Police for three positions with the Arkansas ICAC Task Force.
• Those positions are Administrative Specialist III, Senior Intelligence Analyst, and Forensic Specialist.
• In addition, a portion of the Recovery funding will be used to further enhance the forensic capabilities of law enforcement in Northeast Arkansas in investigations involving technology-facilitated child exploitation and Internet crimes against children.
Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
$351 million to Arkansas
$14.2M to LR/NLR Metro area
$1.5M to West Memphis area
$10.5M to Enhancement Jobs
$4M to City Streets/Signals
$6M to County Roads
$315M Balance
ARRA required $123 million by June 30, 2009 w/ remainder by March 2, 2010
ARRA Projects by contact letting date:
April 2009…………… 27 projects……………… $21 million
May 2009……………. 31 projects…………….. $83 million
July 2009……………...7 projects……………… $29 million
August 2009………….9 projects………………. $56 million
October 2009…………4 projects……………… $57 million
December 2009………4 projects……………… $24 million
January 2010…………3 projects……………… $13 million
February 2010……… 16 projects……………… $65 million
April 2010………………1 project………………. $33 million
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