Valley isn’t being stimulated adequately

By David Skolnick

Over the past few weeks I, and other reporters, have received e-mails from the White House and the offices of U.S. senators about the awarding of money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the $787 billion federal stimulus package.

The legislation was rushed through Congress at the urging of President Barack Obama with the money intended to help kick-start the national economy that’s definitely in a recession and quite possibly in a depression.

Gov. Ted Strickland wrote on Ohio’s federal stimulus Web site — http://recovery.ohio.gov/ — that the money will go toward investments in areas including:

UProducing clean and efficient energy.

UInvesting in science and technology.

UModernizing roads, bridges, transit and waterways.

UDeveloping a stronger education system.

UMaking tax cuts and creating jobs.

ULowering health care costs.

UProviding assistance to workers hurt by the economy.

USaving public sector jobs and providing vital services.

From what I’ve seen, most of the money is going to the state and its largest cities and counties.

That leaves the Mahoning Valley, with the exception of Youngstown, typically on the sidelines watching.

Youngstown has received the lion’s share of the Valley’s funds. That’s because the funding is based on federal formulas that give money to larger urban cities and largely ignore rural and suburban communities.

Youngstown desperately needs the money and to be fair, in comparison to other urban cities, it is getting short-changed. The notable exception is the $20 million it’s receiving for the relocation of a railroad line to help with the proposed expansion of V&M Star Steel.

But when it comes to other communities in the Valley, they are essentially forgotten.

Some are receiving money for road improvements and a few other projects.

Also, every school district was awarded Title 1 funding. The problem is the funding comes without clear instructions, causing a lot of confusion as to what the districts can do with the economic windfall they’ll receive.

That’s been a problem with the stimulus package funding.

There are plenty of communities receiving money from the package who don’t know what they can do with the funds.

Those in the federal government are failing to provide an explanation as to what the money can be used for when they announce the allocation awards.

What’s in the bill?

Quick action was taken to pass the stimulus package. But it’s been a while since it’s passage. Don’t you think it would be beneficial for those who voted for the package — and even those who opposed it — to spend some time carefully reading the bill’s language to get an understanding of it?

In my conversations with federal officials, they struggle at times to explain why some communities/entities/agencies are receiving money from the program while others aren’t.

For example, the state is receiving $80.6 million for construction and repair projects at military and veterans facilities.

How much of that is coming here?

None of it.

The Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna is the home to the 910th Airlift Wing, which has received federal funding from other sources in the past. But it’s not getting a penny of the $80.6 million the state is receiving for military and veterans facilities.

Calls made to the station and the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, didn’t clear anything up. They weren’t even aware of the funding announcement.

A spokeswoman with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office said the station probably didn’t have any “shovel-ready” projects eligible for the funding.

Knowing that the air base is building barracks housing on site and is always looking to expand, I think it could have found some “shovel-ready” projects.

The announcements on the stimulus package will continue to come and the money will follow. A detailed explanation should also be included.