American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Update

The Dallas Regional Chamber is diligent in tracking State and Federal legislation that has an impact on Texas and specifically the North Texas region. One area we continue to monitor closely is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

A recent report from the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee shows that Texas leads the nation in job creation from ARRA. Texas has created more than 700 jobs as a result of funding from the ARRA.

By pooling other funds with ARRA money, stimulus-related construction will generate more than $2.6 billion in new transportation projects for the state. This investment will create an estimated 90,000 direct and indirect jobs in Texas.

Below you will find recently announced funding, as additional funding is released through the ARRA the Dallas Regional Chamber will keep you informed. For additional information please visit our website at www.dallaschamber.org or email Scarlette Dale at sdale@dallaschamber.org.

• National Parks: Texas will receive $3.2 million in Department of Interior stimulus funds for maintenance and improvements in the state’s national parks. Click here for a complete list of the projects.
  
  
• Health information privacy: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published guidance regarding technologies and methodologies to secure health information and prevent harm by rendering health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals. ARRA required publication of the guidance by April 18. This builds on the existing requirements of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, which are unchanged.
  
  
• Smart Grid/energy infrastructure: The Vice President detailed plans by the Department of Energy to develop a “smart” electrical grid as a part of the federal stimulus effort. He outlined plans to distribute more than $3.3 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability
  
  
• Alternative Energy: The US Secretary of Energy announced $41.9 million in stimulus funding for fuel cell technology. The effort’s stated purpose is to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of fuel cells. Texas will participate in the effort through a public-private effort with Sysco of Houston which will deploy 90 fuel cell systems as battery replacements for a fleet of pallet trucks at Sysco’s new distribution center in Houston, due to open in August 2009. This installation will be the first ever field installation without battery infrastructure for a pallet truck fleet. Success at this distribution center will lead to further fleet conversions at some or all of Sysco’s other 169 distribution centers.
  
  
• Smart Grid/energy infrastructure: The US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a three-phase plan to expedite development of key standards for a Smart Grid, a nationwide network that uses information technology to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably, and securely.
  
  
• Education. The US Secretary of Education announced that $108.8 million in funding for targeted students and communities is now available to states under ARRA. The announcement follows the first $44 billion in education-related Recovery funds made available on April 1. The funding for homeless students will be distributed based on established formulas, and information on specific allocations will follow.
  
  
• Community Services Block Grants: The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to make $1 billion available for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program. Funded by ARRA, the new resources will be allocated to the states, and Texas has been allocated $48.1 million.