Streamlining the Broadband Grant Payout
Today's roundup of stimulus coverage:
Responding to criticism that they aren't spending quickly enough, officials at the Commerce and Agriculture Departments have streamlined the process for doling out stimulus funding for broadband, the Denver Business Journal reports. Broadband grants totaling $7 billion will be given out in two rounds, rather than the three that were originally called for. The first round of grants -- about $4 billion -- drew 2,200 applications with nearly $28 billion in requests. The agencies are expected to start paying out the first round of grants next month.
Despite this seemingly positive move, The Wall Street Journal reports that several problems remain in the broadband grant application process, including difficulties for suburban and semi-rural areas in qualifying for the grants. But the authorities are listening. Potential applicants have two more weeks to make suggestions about how grant requirements should be changed.
And finally -- a warning from the World Bank (and reported by the Associated Press): The national unemployment rate, now at 10.2 percent, may have a staggering effect on the U.S. economy. "You're going to have problems with delinquencies of credit card loans, consumer loans, people won't be able to pay their mortgages," World Bank President Robert Zoellick told a group of reporters in Singapore. His advice? Spend existing stimulus money faster, but hold off on new stimulus packages. The current stimulus spending should fuel economic growth through the middle of next year, and after that, Zoellick said, consumer spending and business investment will have to take over to boost the economy further.
Are you tracking the stimulus? ProPublica has set up a mailing list for reporters covering the stimulus, and you're welcome to join. Just e-mail us.
Latest Stories in this Project
Get Updates
Our Hottest Stories
- Donations to Scott Walker Flagged as Potential Fraud
- In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
- Billion Dollar Bait & Switch: States Divert Foreclosure Deal Funds
- Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy
- Patient Died at New York VA Hospital After Alarm Was Ignored
- Introducing the ProPublica Patient Harm Community on Facebook
- Built for a Simpler Era, OSHA Struggles When Tower Climbers Die
- Finding Oscar: Massacre, Memory and Justice in Guatemala
- Got Student Loans? Share Your Documents With Us
- Remember Stuxnet? Why the U.S. is Still Vulnerable
- Donations to Scott Walker Flagged as Potential Fraud
- Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy
- In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
- Air Force Pilots Balk at Flying the World’s Most Expensive Fighter Jet
- Watchdog Group Calls for Probe of Lobbyists Behind Congressional Trip to Taiwan
- Patient Died at New York VA Hospital After Alarm Was Ignored
- Billion Dollar Bait & Switch: States Divert Foreclosure Deal Funds
- Broadcasters Sue to...Block Transparency
- Happy Graduation! Here's The Best, Most Depressing Journalism on Student Debt
- Remember Stuxnet? Why the U.S. is Still Vulnerable






