SEPTA benefits from stimulus bill
Chelsea Plushanski
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: News
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According to Elizabeth Schoonmaker, manager of the Office of Capital Programming of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the DVRPC board approved the dispersal of $668.3 million dollars to regional transportation and transit projects.
The list of SEPTA projects approved by the DVRPC includes a $36.7 million rehabilitation of the Girard and Spring Garden stations, the purchase of 40 new hybrid buses for $18.7 million and 25 other projects.
Daniel Simon, a Drexel University communication professor, said he is not sure if SEPTA's projects will "result in any new jobs" for the city of Philadelphia.
He said the current government administration is doing a lot of things for the economy right, but Simon is doubtful that the stimulus package alone is enough to fix the economy.
Aside from the transportation improvement projects, it is still unclear exactly how the money from the ARRA will be allocated in Philadelphia.
"Funding is going to flow through existing streams," Luke Butler, senior press aide for Mayor Michael Nutter, said.
Right now, Philadelphia is working to "identify projects that are ready to go, have people available, and will stimulate the economy," Butler said.
Butler identified a variety of different programs including Community Oriented Policing Services, job training, and the improvement of airports, as projects that Philadelphia is considering. He said, each program has different requirements and eligibilities, and Philadelphia is working to get every last dollar of funding that [the City] needs.
As for Pennsylvania, Sen. Michael W. Brubaker (R-Pa.) wants to create a bipartisan commission to monitor the distribution and allocation of the stimulus dollars given to the state, according to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
According to the article, Gov. Rendell's spokesman, Chuck Ardo, dismissed Brubaker's idea as an excuse for more bureaucracy.
"It's always intriguing when smaller-government Republicans advocate for more bureaucracy," he told the Inquirer.
Brubaker argued that it would be a system of accountability, not bureaucracy.
Pennsylvania is in line to receive roughly $10 billion over two years for health care, education, infrastructure and other programs, according to administration officials. Philadelphia will receive $89.6 million dollars according to recovery.gov, the Obama Administration web site detailing the allocation of funds for the Stimulus Bill.
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