Eye on the Stimulus

A skeptical person might think the first contractor to benefit from President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package would have political connections to the Democratic Party. Not so. The chief executive of the construction company awarded the first recovery project is actually a big Republican donor -- and contributed to Obama's opponent John McCain.

The selection of the company, American Infrastructure, was announced by Obama at a news conference highlighting how stimulus money was helping transportation projects. The $2.1 million road resurfacing project in Silver Spring, Md., will support 60 jobs and be completed by late fall, Gov. Martin O'Malley's office said.

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With the Obama administration focused on transportation projects yesterday, states are hashing out how they'll spend the money. The New York Times has a broad overview. Delaware and Wisconsin released their priority lists. Meanwhile, some in the Badger State are wondering if the stimulus will mean high-speed rail from Madison to Milwaukee. 

Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton wants more stimulus money to be spent on reducing crime, saying, "You want to be investing in me instead of Wall Street. I get a better rate of return." The bitter New England cold is delaying some of the building in Rhode Island until April.

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Each morning on the Stimulus Watchdog blog, we'll be rounding up all the economic stimulus coverage. Consider it your morning espresso shot of stimulus.

Recovery.gov just got its first major face-lift since going live two weeks ago. It now has a state-by-state breakdown of transportation funding and a new column of news releases. According to the government Web site, today is the day that federal agencies will begin to report what they've been doing with stimulus money.

"The first contract will be awarded to American Infrastructure, a family business in Pennsylvania that will be resurfacing a road in Maryland," President Obama said this morning. "More than 100 other people will begin receiving funds today, as well.  Over the next few weeks, we will launch more than 200 construction projects across this country, fueling growth in an industry that's been hard hit by our economic crisis."

The White House will release a state-by-state overview of infrastructure spending this afternoon. But Texas lawmakers are already feuding over how it will be spent.

House Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam lashed out at Texas Department of Transportation officials at a hearing Monday, saying that the state might have violated the law by failing to direct the stimulus money to economically distressed areas, according to the Associated Press.

TxDOT released a list last week showing how it will spend the first $500 million in road and bridge projects, and it is expected to vote Thursday on how to allocate $1.2 billion more.