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Recovery.gov - Track the Money

Recovery.gov is the U.S. government's official website that provides easy access to data
related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse.

 The Recovery Act

On Feb. 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 at the urging of President Obama, who signed it into law four days later. A direct response to the economic crisis, the Recovery Act has three immediate goals:

  • Create new jobs and save existing ones
  • Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
  • Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

The Recovery Act intended to achieve those goals by providing $787 billion in:

  • Tax cuts and benefits for millions of working families and businesses
  • Funding for entitlement programs, such as unemployment benefits
  • Funding for federal contracts, grants and loans

In 2011, the original expenditure estimate of $787 billion was increased to $840 billion to be in line with the President's 2012 budget and with scoring changes made by the Congressional Budget Office since the enactment of the Recovery Act. 

To achieve the transparency goal, the Act requires recipients of Recovery funds to report every January, April, July, and October on how they are using the money.  All the data is posted on Recovery.gov  so the public can track the Recovery funds.

In addition to offering financial aid directly to local school districts, expanding the Child Tax Credit, and underwriting the computerization of health records, the Recovery Act is targeted at infrastructure development and enhancement.  For instance, the Act provides for the weatherizing of 75 percent of federal buildings and more than one million private homes.

Construction and repair of roads and bridges as well as scientific research and the expansion of broadband and wireless service are being funded.

There is no end date written into the Recovery Act because, while many of Recovery Act projects are focused on jumpstarting the economy, others are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years.

PDF To view the full bill, click here.

 

Policy & Guidance

The Office of Management and Budget frequently publishes guidance to the federal agencies on how they should implement requirements defined in the Recovery Act. In addition, the Council of Economic Advisers issues reports to the President outlining the impact of the Recovery Act on the overall economy. The guidance and reports are found below. 

The Office of Management and Budget also provided guidance on Recipient Reporting.

 Office of Management and Budget Guidance to Federal Agencies

 Preparing for Implementation Feb 2009 (PDF 46 KB)

 Initial Implementing Guidance Feb 2009 (PDF 547 KB)

 Updated Implementing Guidance Apr 2009 (PDF 1.5 MB)

 

Council of Economic Advisers Reports

 Economic Impact of the Recovery Act of 2009 Dec 2011 (PDF 430 KB)

 Economic Impact of the Recovery Act of 2009 Jan 2010 (PDF 284 KB)

PDF Estimates of Job Creation May 2009 (PDF 78 KB)