ProPublica Eye on the Stimulus

Recovery Data to Get a Checkup

It’s time once again for stimulus data. And it will be again. And again.

This past weekend, the government’s stimulus Web site, Recovery.gov, released its second big batch of data on stimulus projects. But be careful: That data, which includes tidbits such as award amounts and jobs information, is not the final version. Recipients have until Feb. 8 to make changes to the information they submitted. During that time, the folks at the Office of Management and Budget will be doing some data checks as well.

After that, a new and improved data set will be posted on Recovery.gov on Feb. 10. We’ll be using that information to update our recovery tracker.

But wait. That’s not all. Under the continuous QA process, recipients will be able to correct reports until March 15. During that time, federal agencies will be able to identify errors in reports. Updated data will be released every other Wednesday during that time. We’ll keep you posted when updated data is available.

“The idea is to be as transparent as we can be, and to provide the most accurate numbers possible,” said Ed Pound, spokesman for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. “We believe this new process will improve the quality of the data.”

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One-Third of Stimulus Money Spent

The Obama administration has passed the one-third mark in getting last February’s stimulus dollars out the door, according to the latest numbers from Recovery.gov. That figure includes $176 billion in spending, and an estimated $93 billion in tax relief.

You can find these numbers and more on our interactive Stimulus Progress Bar.

The milestone comes on the heels of a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, which estimates that the total cost of the stimulus will be $75 billion more than the CBO had originally projected.

When Congress passed the stimulus bill last year, the CBO estimated it would cost $787 billion in extra spending and lost revenue from tax cuts. That estimate has now been increased to $862 billion, due to an increase in the projected costs of some of the programs in the stimulus, including food stamps and unemployment insurance.

For more details, check out our Stimulus Progress Bar.

UPDATE, Feb. 4th 2010: Despite the CBO’s new estimate of the total cost of the stimulus, ProPublica will continue to count stimulus spending against the amount of money that Congress actually authorized the administration to spend ($792 billion) rather than the amount of money the administration is expected to spend—which, as we’ve seen, will change as time goes on. We’ll revise our $792 billion number if (or when) Congress does.

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After Months of Drought, Stimulus Obligations Bounce Back

After three months of shrinking obligations, the stimulus pipeline is beginning to fill up again. The latest numbers from Recovery.gov show that stimulus money “in process”—funds committed to specific projects, but not yet spent—has started to tick upward again. ProPublica reported two weeks ago that the amount of money in process had peaked at $172 billion in October, only to fall consistently through the rest of the year.

But that trend has now reversed, at least for the moment. After dipping below $150 billion in last week’s numbers, the amount of stimulus money in process has now risen to $157 billion. That seems to be the result of federal agencies’ obligating more of their stimulus appropriations to specific projects: in the latest numbers, the amount of stimulus money that agencies have yet to obligate has fallen to $251 billion, from $267 billion last week. (You can see that information and more on our handy Stimulus Progress Bar.)

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When Do You Ban a Stimulus Contractor?

The Kentucky transportation department has awarded $24 million in stimulus contracts to companies associated with a road contractor who is accused of bribing the previous state transportation secretary, according to an audit by the federal Department of Transportation (PDF).

The DOT’s internal watchdog used the case to highlight the significant delays in the time it takes for the Federal Highway Administration to suspend or bar someone from receiving government contracts. Though the agency is supposed to make such a decision within 45 days, federal highway officials waited 10 months after the indictment to put the men accused of bribery onto the list of banned contractors.

The combination of lengthy delays in the contractor suspension process and the rapid disbursement of billions of stimulus dollars “creates a ‘perfect storm’ for contractors intent on defrauding the government,” the inspector general audit said.

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Stimulus Spending Hits $257 Billion, But the ‘Pipeline’ Is Still Emptying

According to the latest available numbers, the federal government has spent $257 billion of last February’s nearly $800 billion economic stimulus package. The number combines $164 billion in spending and an estimated $93 billion in tax cuts.

The latest numbers, which you can see on our interactive Stimulus Progress Bar, show a continued decrease in the amount of money “in process.” That amount, which is the money that has been committed to specific projects but not yet spent, forms what you might call the stimulus pipeline. It gives an indication of the number of stimulus-funded projects that contractors and other service providers can bid on.

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