With Washington coming to the rescue, Massachusetts has been able to save programs that would have been decimated without federal stimulus funds. According to a report published Wednesday by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the Bay State will receive an estimated $17.7 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
Of that allocation, $3.6 billion has helped spare residents from more severe budget cuts, primarily in health, education, and human services.
“Absent ARRA spending, economic and fiscal conditions in Massachusetts would likely be considerably worse than they are at present,” the center concluded.
Some MassBudget snapshots :
- As of September 30, Massachusetts has spent more than $1 billion in increases in the federal reimbursement rate paid for Medicaid spending. Stimulus monies preserved health care programs funded under the state’s health reform law, such as adult dental care and adult day services (health, social, and other services). Federal funding also helped the state save health care coverage for nearly 40,000 legal immigrants. Another $611 million will be available for the fiscal 2011 budget.
- In June 2009, $322 million from the education block grant program and $90 million from the flexible block grant program allowed the state to compensate for reductions in Chapter 70 aid to school districts. This fiscal year, 8 percent of school districts’ foundation budgets will come from stimulus funds.
- To date, an estimated $48 million has gone to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) emergency funding. Federal dollars will go to expenditures that the state would have otherwise funded.
- The Bay State has received $4.6 million for child support enforcement; about $1.9 million has been expended. Massachusetts can now substitute the federal funds for state monies and use the savings for more child support programs or allocate those funds to other areas.
- As of September 30, the state has spent $4.1 million in federal funds on adoption assistance and foster care services, again allowing the state to free up money to offset other service cuts.
