GAO: Stimulus dollars flowing in Ohio - Business First of Columbus:

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The in a bimonthly snapshoy of stimulus spending in Ohio releasedd Wednesday shows progress is being made in a numberf of keyfunding areas. Several statde and local government officials in Centrapl Ohio have Columbus Business First that the federal cash is beingv deliveredas promised. The report, however, pointede to troubles on tracking the impacrt of recovery funds as some agencies saythey aren’tr receiving “clear federal guidance.” That’s being remediedr by working off of existing federakl program guidance on job creation data, thougyh some agencies, the report said, are waitintg for more help on how to measure the impacyt of the stimulus plan.
Ohio was cleared for abouf $8.9 billion in stimuluas dollars inthe $787 billiomn package that President Obama signed in • Near the end of June, the statre had drawn down about $711 million in increasefd Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage a move made to offset Ohio’s budget shortfall and continue a flow of services. GAO said the stimulue funding has allowed Ohio to continue expanding Medicaicd funding to an expanded population that includespregnanft women, children under foster care and disabled Ohioans returning to • The office reported that as of June 25, Ohio had obligater $384 million of the nearly $936 million in highwahy infrastructure stimulus dollars funneled through the .
Obligation is definexd as the federal government committing to its fundiny share ofa project. The GAO said the state expects all but one of its projects earmarked for highwa y stimulus funding will be done withinthrees years. Among the more than 200 projects identified are majoe infrastructure improvements nearand . • The federaol Weatherization Stimulus Program, which will bring Ohio nearl y $267 million in stimulus has sparked plans to begin work this month on weatherizingabout 32,000 units. The statr has been cleared for half of that cash and had obligatesdabout $20 million as of June 18. The office in its repory also pointed to what it called an earlyh success of thestimulus Gov.
Ted Strickland in December 2008 orderexabout $640 million cut from the state’s budgegt but cuts were less than they could have been becaused of the expectation of stimulus dollars. The report said that stimulus fundss have playeda “significant role” in balancinv the budget for the two-yeadr cycle begun last Wednesday. But finalization of the budget is tied up as Strickland and Senate Republicans remain at odds over closinga $3.2 billionb budget gap with revenue from video slot machinesd at horse racing tracks.
The report also reiterated the concernse of some state officials on what will happen when stimuluefunding isn’t available in the two-yeare cycle beginning in July 2011. “State budget officialsx said that if the economy does not improvde and revenues donot increase, all optionsw will be on the table for discussionm and debate,” the report said. Clico to download the full report.