AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT (ARRA) RESOURCE GUIDE
On February 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Four days later, the President signed the legislation into law. The Recovery Act’s three main goals are to:
- Create and save jobs
- Spur economic activity and invest in long-term economic growth
- Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending
This $787 billion Recovery plan includes federal tax cuts and incentives, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and other spending on social entitlement programs. In addition, federal agencies are using Recovery funds to award contracts, grants, and loans around the country.
ARRA funding was targeted as follows:
*Tax Relief - includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy.
*State and Local Fiscal Relief - Prevents state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local tax increases.
Source: http://az.gov/recovery/data.html
As such, the flow of ARRA funding is through multiple sources. Dollars have been allocated directly to state and tribal governments as well as federal agencies. Regardless of where it goes, much of the funding is being spent directly by those organizations in fulfilling their respective missions.
However, significant funding is also being passed through these various organizations in the form of grants and contracts to non-governmental entities able to help the funding organization better realize its mission and goals.
GENERAL ARRA RESOURCES ON THE WEB
Below are links to information about ARRA and other state and federal funding that can be found on the web.
General ARRA Resources
Identifying ARRA Opportunities
Applying for grants involves more than just the application
Grant opportunities by areas of service/focus – general information including:
Arts
Education/Early Childhood
Environment/Energy
Health
Community
Housing and Community Development
Transportation
Workforce/Job Training
Miscellaneous
Resources
LEVERAGING ARRA FUNDING
The Alliance for Arizona Nonprofits is partnering with several Arizona foundations to assist nonprofits in their efforts to tap into the opportunities to strengthen our communities under ARRA and other public sector funds. The foundations supporting this effort are: Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, Arizona Community Foundation, McMiles Foundation and Youngker Foundation.
Key to this effort is facilitating conversations between and convening groups of interested and potential stakeholders. The intent of these efforts is to create a collaborative dialogue that helps ensure stability within our communities during this economic crisis by leveraging ARRA resources that might not be tapped otherwise, as well as build capacity within the nonprofit sector so these types of opportunities can continue to be tapped in the future.
In the 2009-10 winter season, the Alliance will convene a number of Town Halls across Arizona to create these linkages, develop collaboration opportunities and convene stakeholders invested in assuring that maximum possible effort is made to bring as many ARRA dollars to Arizona as possible.
In addition to these efforts, the Alliance and its partners are also committed to providing the nonprofit community with the tools and information necessary to access grant and contract opportunities available as result of ARRA. Below is an electronic library designed to help nonprofits navigate ARRA and the funding opportunities it presents.
Please note -- In an effort to make information and resources available as quickly as possible, the information contained herein will be posted blocks until such time as the library is complete (which we estimate to be no later than the beginning of December 2009.)