Topic: Government Operations — General
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2009-01-27 00:00:00

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Department of Justice (DOJ); (4) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); (5) the National Science Foundation; (6) the Department of Defense (DOD); (7) the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers - Civil; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Department of Energy.Makes additional appropriations for FY2009 to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide a temporary increase in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.Amends the Crop Insurance Act and the Trade Act of 1974 to provide 2008 transition assistance to certain farmers for lost income due to natural disasters and other unforeseen events. Instructs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a national broadband service development and expansion program in conjunction with the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.Makes additional borrowing authority available to the Bonneville Power Administration.Amends the Hoover Power Plant Act of 1984 to authorize the Western Area Power Administration to borrow funds from the Treasury for: (1) new or upgraded electric power transmission lines and related facilities; and (2) the delivery of power generated by renewable energy resources after enactment of this Act.Makes technical corrections to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.Revises requirements with respect to smart grid regional demonstration initiatives.Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart grid information clearinghouse.Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary to make loan guarantees for rapid deployment before FY2012 of renewable energy and electric power transmission projects.Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to increase the income eligibility level for the Weatherization Assistance Program, as well as the maximum amount of financial assistance.Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009: (1) to the Department of the Treasury; (2) for federal payments to the District of Columbia; (3) to the General Services Administration (GSA); (4) to the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board; and (5) to Small Business Administration (SBA).Provides temporary elimination of SBA fees on: (1) small-business loans; (2) state and local development program loans; and (3) lender oversight fees.Provides increased SBA loan leverage and investment limits. Authorizes the SBA to refinance certain loans to state and local development companies.Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 to: (1) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); (2) the Department of the Interior; (3) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (4) the Department of Agriculture; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (6) the Smithsonian Institution; (7) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (8) the National Endowment for the Arts; (9) the Department of Labor (DOL), Employment and Training Administration; (10) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); (11) the Department of Education; (12) the Corporation for National and Community Service; (13) the National Service Trust; (14) the Social Security Administration (SSA); (15) the Government Accountability Office (GAO); (16) the DOD; (17) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (18) the DOD - Civil; (19) the Department of State; (20) the Department of Transportation; and (21) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).Requires the President to establish an arbitration panel under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public assistance program to expedite the recovery efforts from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike within the Gulf Coast Region.Amends the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 to require GAO (currently, the Secretary of Labor) to report on the impact of past and future minimum wage increases in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands regarding living standards and rates of employment.Establishes the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research.Provides grants for higher education facility modernization, renovation, and repair.Amends the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to revise the exclusion from the meaning of "employee in the recreational marine industry" of any individuals employed to repair a recreational vessel or to dismantle any part of it in connection with its repair.Amends the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 to expand temporarily the homeowners assistance plan to respond to mortgage foreclosures and the credit crisis with respect to: (1) acquisition of property at or near military installations that have been ordered to be closed; (2) homeowner assistance for wounded members of the Armed Forces and DOD and U.S. Coast Guard civilian employees and their spouses; and (3) temporary homeowner assistance for members of the Armed Forces permanently reassigned during a specified period involving a mortgage crisis.Provides for payments to eligible persons who served in the Armed Forces in the Far East during World War II.Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invest in the infrastructure necessary to allow for and promote the electronic exchange and use of health information for each individual in the United States, consistent with the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.Establishes a State Stabilization Fund which the Secretary of Education is to use to provide grants to states: (1) to restore state funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; (2) to supplement school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (3) for public safety and other government services. Reserves a portion of such Fund for: (1) awarding grants to states that make significant progress in addressing inequities in teacher distribution, establishing longitudinal education data systems, and improving educational assessments; and (2) establishing an Innovation Fund to award states, LEAs, and schools that make significant progress in closing student achievement gaps.Establishes the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.Designates each amount in this Act as an emergency requirement, necessary to meet certain emergency needs in accordance with the FY2008-FY2009 congressional budget resolutions.Makes all funds appropriated in this Act available for obligation in such current fiscal year, unless expressly expressly provided otherwise.Prohibits the use of funds for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron and steel used in the project is domestic, except in certain circumstances.Prohibits a state or local agency from receiving infrastructure investment funding from funds made available under this Act unless its chief executive certifies that: (1) such investment funding has been reviewed and vetted; and (2) the investment is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to revise contracting requirements to include individuals with disabilities and businesses owned by such persons.