The Stimulus Money Is Almost Gone

The stimulus money is almost gone. I hope you all got yours. I can't remember. I may have gotten a $250 check.

Some of the money was for shovel ready jobs (which weren't) but most of the money simply extended the time states were able to maintain payrolls well beyond their means.

This is as good a summary as I can find anywhere:

California's $85-billion share of stimulus funding has repaired bridges and highways, built new barracks on military bases and renovated crumbling infrastructure. Disabled veteran Bill Vaughn says his biggest job this year was a stimulus project repairing a pipe at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Since that job ended in January, he hasn't found additional work for his firm, BCV Construction.

"My company's on the verge of closing," said Vaughn, who lives with his in-laws in Northridge.

In addition to infrastructure improvement, about $18 billion of California's share of stimulus funds has been spent on social programs such as Medicaid, unemployment insurance and food stamps. Billions more flowed to schools and job centers. But with those funds now gone, officials are preparing for another round of belt-tightening.

"It was unbelievable feast one year and famine the very next," said Blake Konczal, director of the Fresno Regional Workforce Investment Board, which used stimulus funds to help more than 2,000 unemployed people attend job retraining. The office's budget doubled thanks to $16.4 million in stimulus funds but will contract again in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1.

It would be interesting to know how many of those 2,000 folks have been hired at a time when firms are anxious about rising healthcare costs for new employees and California is boycotting trade with a neighboring state over in-state policy disputes. 

The sales tax -- the most regressive tax there is -- here in Los Angeles is 9.75%. In addition, Californians pay property taxes and state income taxes.

(Note: I am traveling. Right now I am in southern California, and thus some of the emphasis on California. Last month I was in Boston and I did a bit of reporting on the Wind Cape wind farm of Teddy Kennedy's (RIP) estate.)