U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), the Republican Leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, questioned whether infrastructure stimulus funding is being used effectively to create jobs and provide the economic boost for which it was intended.
The committee held a hearing on April 29 to examine the status of transportation and infrastructure project funding provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“We are still in the earlier stages of the process, but I am concerned that some projects being funded with Recovery Act money have done little to help create jobs and jumpstart the economy,” Mica said. “Some projects, not all within the programs overseen by this committee, are of questionable merit and appear to miss the target on stimulus.
“Infrastructure investment creates jobs, and I support this kind of investment as a stimulus,” he continued. “However, we must pay close attention to who is receiving stimulus money, make sure that these dollars are well-directed, and hold funding recipients accountable for its use.”
Mica cited some concerning examples of project spending:
• $550,000 for a skateboard park in Rhode Island;
• Over $3 million to upgrade a motorship at a museum;
• $11 million in stimulus money for a bridge that solely benefits a major corporation; and
• $57 million one state proposes to use to study highway projects that won’t begin for years.
Mica continued, “We must ask, is this so-called stimulus funding being used to help Americans who badly need jobs, or is this funding being used to benefit private companies, fund long-term studies rather than ready-to-go projects and pay for projects that do nothing to employ people?
“I am also concerned about how grant recipients are meeting the job-creation reporting requirements under the Recovery Act. The U.S. General Accountability Office has found the existing criteria to measure job creation to be too vague.
“People are desperate for jobs, and we must be able to determine which projects are helping to put Americans back to work,” said Mica.
