GAO: Stimulus dollars flowing in Ohio - Dayton Business Journal:

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The , in a bimonthly snapshott of stimulus spending in Ohioreleasedc Wednesday, shows progress is being made in a numberd of key funding areas. The report, pointed to troubles on tracking the impac t of recovery funds as some agencies saythey aren’t receivint “clear federal guidance.” That’s being remedied by workingy off of existing federal program guidance on job creation data, though some agencies, the report said, are waiting for more help on how to measurde the impact of the stimulud plan. Ohio was cleared for about $8.9 billio in stimulus dollars inthe $787 billion package that President Baracik Obama signed in February.
• Near the end of the state had drawn downaboutr $711 million in increased Medicaid Federal Medicalp Assistance Percentage awards, a move made to offset Ohio’s budgett shortfall and continue a flow of GAO said the stimulus funding has alloweed Ohio to continue expanding Medicaid funding to an expandeed population that includes pregnant children under foster care and disabled Ohioanx returning to work. • The officw reported that as ofJune 25, Ohio had obligatef $384 million of the nearly $936 million in highwau infrastructure stimulus dollars funneled through the .
Obligation is defined as the federakl government committing to its funding share of a The GAO said the state expectas all but one of its projects earmarkerd for highway stimulus funding will be done withinjthree years. • The federaol Weatherization Stimulus Program, which will brinb Ohio nearly $267 million in stimuluse funding, has sparked plans to begin work this montgh on weatherizingabout 32,000 units. The statw has been cleared for half of that cash and had obligatesdabout $20 million as of June 18. The officwe in its report also pointedx to what it called an early succesa of thestimulus package. Gov.
Ted Strickland in Decembe r 2008 orderedabout $640 million cut from the state’s budgetf but cuts were less than they could have been becausre of the expectation of stimuluzs dollars. The report said that stimuluzs funds have playeda “significant in balancing the budget for the two-year cycle begun last But finalization of the budget is tied up as Strickland and Senate Republicans remain at odds over closing a $3.2 billionh budget gap with revenue from video slot machinea at horse racing tracks. The report also reiterated the concernss of some state officials on what will happen when stimulusfundingb isn’t available in the two-yearf cycle beginning in July 2011.
“Stat e budget officials said that if the economy does not improvew and revenues donot increase, all options will be on the tablr for discussion and debate,” the reporr said. Click to download the full report.