Stimulus Reporting by Jennifer LaFleur

Investigating the stimulus Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica

The stimulus touches nearly every beat
Housing
Transportation
Community programs
Unemployment
Technology

Getting started
What money is going to your community?
Education
Transportation
Weatherization
Evaluating how it’s being spent
How is the money distributed?
Who is getting contracts?
What’s being fixed?

Some key federal sites
The bill : Breakdown of what was supposed to be funded and rules of funding. (part A)
Recovery.gov – Main site for administration on recovery – good for getting information on overall plan
USAspending.gov – More on federal spending
Federal Procurement Data System – federal contracts
Federal Agency recovery sites – Google the agency name and “recovery”

Local information
Check with state agencies to get information on projects
Check with your local city or county to get information on projects there.

Sorting it all out
Every type of funding takes a different path to the user.
FED  STATE  CITY  PROJECT
FED  RECIPIENT
Find out what reports an agency must file – every type of project will require some report being filed
You won’t know every final recipient. Data is only being released to two levels.

Sorting it all out
Not every dollar is reported on recovery.gov
- Some programs are not required to report
- Small awards don’t have to be reported
- Direct awards, such as SBA loans aren’t reported

Sorting it all out
List of programs that require recipients to file 1512 (jobs) reports: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_fy2009/m09-21-supp1.pdf
Get much of detailed data on usaspending.gov

ProPublica’s tools

ProPublica’s tools
Stimulus FAQ s
Stimulus tool kit -- Basics on getting information on the stimulus

Backgrounding contractors
Debarred federal contractors: https://www.epls.gov/epls/search.do
Federal Audit Clearinghouse
OSHA: www.osha.gov
Check to see if your state has a debarred contractors list
Check for your state’s database of complaints against firms
Check your state auditor’s reports (ex: TX )

Checking on the ground
Go to the job site and check:
Whether the project is actually up and running
The number of workers
Who the subcontractors are – check truck IDs or licenses

Evaluating projects
Federal bridge inspections – available from IRE
Dam inspections data – available from IRE, and national inventory of dams
Census data
To adjust spending to per capita
to examine spending against demographics of your community
Bureau of Labor Statistics – for unemployment data

Getting demographic information
Census data: Factfinder.census.gov
Use population estimates to get overall population
Use the American Community Survey for other variables

Other resources
Stories: www.ire.org/extraextra
Stories and data: www.stateline.org
Tip Sheets: www.ire.org
Public records questions: www.rcfp.org

Tools for working with data
Spreadsheets: Excel or Google spreadsheets
Databases: Access
Interactive Graphics – Many Eyes
Mapping – Google maps, ArcView, Many Eyes

Stimulus Reporting by Jennifer LaFleur

by Reynolds Center for Business Journalism

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