Stimulus funds increase Ind. jobs

INDIANAPOLIS – President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus package has steered about $848 million to Indiana so far and created or retained nearly 18,900 jobs, the White House said Friday.

The figures were included in a new report issued by an independent federal board monitoring the program’s progress.

The report showed about 640,300 jobs have been created or retained nationally since the stimulus package was passed in February. White House officials said when adding in jobs linked to $288 billion in tax cuts, the stimulus plan has created or saved more than 1 million jobs.

Indiana as a whole has been awarded about $3 billion so far, Friday’s report said. Much of it has yet to be spent.

Indiana officials said revised figures show the state government was awarded about $2.3 billion through Sept. 30, which was close to earlier figures. State government has received and spent about $781 million so far.

A summary of the stimulus money the state government received so far showed it paid for the equivalent of 16,310 jobs.

About $610 million was spent for basic school funding in June to help prop up the state budget that took effect July 1. That supported about 13,200 school jobs, according to the state summary. About $82 million more went to specific education programs, providing more than 2,000 jobs.

The state government data does not include money that went directly to local governments or individuals, such as recipients of Medicaid, food stamps or unemployment benefits.

Overall, Indiana is expected to receive about $4.7 billion from the $787 billion federal stimulus program designed to jump-start the economy. The data are part of a national effort by states to calculate the effect of the stimulus program.

The state government figures reflect what has been awarded to 16 Indiana state agencies and more than 50 programs.

The awards have gone to purposes and programs including supplemental services for disadvantaged students, funding for property tax credits used by local governments for public safety and general government purposes, a youth conservation project that lasted from May through September, home meal deliveries for seniors and wastewater treatment plant construction.

Cris Johnston, executive director of government efficiency and financial planning, said the data are only a snapshot, and it likely will take several more quarters to determine the full effect of the stimulus.

“Our approach has been to use the money quickly but balance that by using it prudently, and our report demonstrates that,” Johnston said Friday. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on each quarterly report.”

Of Indiana’s neighboring states, Illinois ranked seventh highest in the number of jobs retained or created at about 24,450; Michigan was ninth with 22,500 jobs; Ohio was 13th with 17,100 jobs; and Kentucky was 36th at 4,200 jobs. California ranked first at nearly 110,200.

White House officials noted such comparisons can be skewed because some states have spent stimulus money more quickly than others.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said earlier this month that Indiana has put some of its federal stimulus money to quick use but that it’s hard to see a big difference.

“I personally wouldn’t try to tell a taxpayer that this had any effect that I can see on the economy or let alone that there is some specific number of jobs attached to it,” he said.