Press Releases
Governor Quinn Announces Illinois Gets Top Rank for Implementation of Federal Recovery Dollars
CHICAGO – August 19, 2009. Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Illinois ranks among the top in the nation for the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). According to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) data, Illinois ranks first among all states in the total expenditure of ARRA funds. To date, expenditures of ARRA funds in Illinois total $170,605,614, which is nearly triple the expenditures of the next highest state.
“Illinois is committed to spending federal recovery funds in a targeted, timely and transparent manner,” Governor Quinn said. “Today’s announcement is evidence of our hard work to make sure we are taking full advantage of the recovery program and getting the people of Illinois back to work.”
Expenditures are funds paid to the state by the FHWA to reimburse the Illinois Department of Transportation for the cost of constructing ARRA projects that are completed or currently under construction.
“We are very happy to hear Illinois is among the best in the nation for our efforts in implementing the federal recovery program,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication by many to quickly bring active construction to such a large number of projects, but we took on the challenge and successfully put construction crews back to work to help revive the state’s economy.”
The FHWA says amongst all states, Illinois also has the third highest number of ARRA projects obligated, ranks fourth for percentage of ARRA funds expended and ranks sixteenth in obligation of ARRA funds. Obligations represent the total expected cost of the projects either completed or under construction.
As a result of the federal stimulus package, 239 highway projects have been started and 45 completed, with $180 million paid out to contractors and consultants. To date, 268 highway contracts have been awarded totaling approximately $552 million.
Overall, Illinois ranks third in the nation overall for spending stimulus funds quickly. The ranking is based on the dollars spent as a percentage of dollars available to states.
Earlier this year, Governor Quinn signed the $3 billion Jump Start Capital Plan and the $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! plan, both designed to help revive the state’s ailing economy and create and retain hundreds of thousands of jobs during the next six years.
Press Releases