More stimulus money headed to Texas
by Mary Scott Nabers
CEO of Strategic Partnerships, Inc.
. . . continued from page one
Also this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $167.8 million in stimulus funds to help finance facilities in rural areas. Palacious, Texas, was awarded $465,000 to build a new 7,500-square-foot childcare facility in Matagorda County.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will apply for what are known as TIGER grants (Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery). The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced that an additional $600 million of the $1.5 billion set aside for this program will be competitively awarded during the second round of competition – dubbed TIGER II. Texas entities were awarded more than $5 million during the first round of competition.
In the first quarter of 2010, there are still billions of dollars in stimulus funding that have been not awarded. That means millions of dollars in contracting opportunities will still be available for vendors.
In the first quarter, Texas was been awarded 1,532 contracts totaling more than $1.3 billion. Grants in the state totaled 9,649 for the first quarter, with a combined value of more than $11.7 billion. More than $13.1 billion was distributed through 25 loans. Total funds awarded in Texas for the first quarter of the year amounted to a little more than $13 billion. But only roughly $2.8 billion of that funding had been received.
Not surprisingly, the top recipient of Recovery Act funding in Texas for the first quarter of 2010 was TxDOT. The state's transportation agency garnered more than $1.9 billion in stimulus funds. The Governor's Office was close behind with a little over $1.02 billion, mostly in education funding and criminal justice grant funds. The State Comptroller's Office received $245 million and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) was awarded $201 million. Some of the Comptroller's Office funding was for energy efficiency-related projects and energy rebate programs. Numerous housing authorities throughout the state benefitted from energy upgrades, electrical upgrades and overall rehabilitation projects.
Among Texas entities involved in infrastructure, TxDOT was the largest funding recipient. The agency received $470 million. Dallas Area Rapid Transit was another top infrastructure recipient with $139 million awarded. Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority received $18.5 million, the Governor's Office received $16.2 million and the Texas Water Development Board received $15.5 million.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded $2.7 billion to Texas and the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $1.5 billion. More than $840 million came to Texas via HHS and another $506 million entered the state after an allocation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Vendors should watch these funds as they flow into the state. They are adding to an already-lucrative marketplace for those who want to do business with state and local government.
