Recovery Act funds are being distributed to states, localities, other entities, and individuals through a combination of formula and competitive grants and direct assistance. Nearly half of the approximately $580 billion associated with Recovery Act spending programs will flow to states and localities affecting about 50 state formula and discretionary grants as well as about 15 entitlement and other countercyclical programs. As noted above, three of the largest streams of funds flowing to states and localities are (1) the temporary increase in FMAP funding which will provide states with approximately $87 billion in assistance; (2) the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which will provide nearly $54 billion to help state and local governments avert budget cuts, primarily in education; and (3) highway infrastructure investment funds of approximately $27 billion. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that finances health care for certain categories of low-income individuals, including children, families, persons with disabilities, and persons who are elderly. The federal government matches state spending for Medicaid services according to a formula based on each state’s per capita income in relation to the national average per capita income. The amount of federal assistance states receive for Medicaid service expenditures is known as the FMAP. Across states, the FMAP may range from 50 to no more than 83 percent, with poorer states receiving a higher federal matching rate than wealthier states. Under the Recovery Act, states are eligible for an increased FMAP for expenditures that states make in providing services to their Medicaid populations. The Recovery Act provides eligible states with this increased FMAP for 27 months between October 1, 2008, and December 31, 2010. On February 25, 2009, CMS made increased FMAP grant awards to states, and states may retroactively claim reimbursement for expenditures that occurred prior to the effective date of the Recovery Act. Generally, for fiscal year 2009 through the first quarter of fiscal year 2011, the increased FMAP, which is calculated on a quarterly basis, provides for: (1) the maintenance of states’ prior year FMAPs; (2) a general across-the-board increase of 6.2 percentage points in states’ FMAPs; and (3) a further increase to the FMAPs for those states that have a qualifying increase in unemployment rates. For the first two quarters of 2009, the increases in the FMAP for the 16 states and the District ranged from 7.09 percentage points in Iowa to 11.59 percentage points in California. (See table 1.) The Recovery Act provides approximately $48 billion to fund grants to states, localities, regional authorities and others for transportation projects of which the largest piece is $27.5 billion for highway and related infrastructure investments. The Recovery Act largely provides for increased transportation funding through existing programs-such as the Federal-Aid Highway Surface Transportation Program—a federally funded, state-administered program. Under this program, funds are apportioned annually to each state department of transportation (or equivalent) to construct and maintain roadways and bridges on the federal-aid highway system. The Federal-Aid Highway Program refers to the separately funded grant programs mostly funded by formula, administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Recovery Act provided $53.6 billion in appropriations for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) to be administered by the U.S. Department of Education. The Recovery Act requires that the Secretary of Education set aside $5 billion for State Incentive Grants, referred to by the department as the Reach for the Top program, and the establishment of an Innovation Fund. After reserving these and certain other funds, the remaining funds are to be distributed to states by formula, with 61 percent of the state award based on the state’s relative share of the population aged 5 to 24 and 39 percent based on the state’s relative share of the total U.S. population. The Recovery Act specifies that 81.8 percent (about $39.5 billion) of these remaining funds are to be distributed to states for support of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education, and early childhood education programs. The remaining 18.2 percent of SFSF (about $8.8 billion) is available for public safety and other government services including for educational purposes. The Department of Education announced on April 1, 2009 that it will award the SFSF in two phases. The first phase—$32.6 billion—represents about two-thirds of the SFSF. Figure 1 shows the distribution of Recovery Act funds to states by broad functional categories over the next several years. The timeline of Recovery Act spending has been a key issue in the debate and design of the Recovery Act because of the elapsed time between when policy changes are first proposed and actual spending begins to flow from enacted changes. Figure 2 shows the projected timing of state and local- administered Recovery Act spending. Over time, the programmatic focus of Recovery Act spending will change. As shown in figure 3, about two-thirds of Recovery Act funds expected to be spent by states in the current 2009 fiscal year will be health related, primarily temporary increases in Medicaid FMAP funding. Health, education, and transportation is estimated to account for approximately 90 percent of fiscal year 2009 Recovery Act funding for states and localities. However, by fiscal year 2012, transportation will be the largest share of state and local Recovery Act funding. Taken together, transportation spending, along with investments in the community development, energy, and environmental areas that are geared more toward creating long-run economic growth opportunities will represent approximately two-thirds of state and local Recovery Act funding in 2012. The administration has stipulated that every taxpayer dollar spent on economic recovery must be subject to unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability. To that end, the Recovery Act established the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to coordinate and conduct oversight of funds distributed under the Act in order to prevent fraud, waste and abuse. The Board includes a Chairman appointed by the President, and ten Inspectors General specified by the Act. The Board has a series of functions and powers to assist it in the mission of providing oversight and promoting transparency regarding expenditure of funds at all levels of government. The Board will report on the use of Recovery Act funds and may also make recommendations to agencies on measures to avoid problems and prevent fraud, waste and abuse. The Board is also charged under the Act with establishing and maintaining a web site, www.recovery.gov, (Recovery.gov) to foster greater accountability and transparency in the use of covered funds. The website currently includes overview information about the Recovery Act, a timeline for implementation, a frequently asked questions page, and an announcement page that is to be regularly updated. The administration plans to develop the site to encompass information about available funding, distribution of funds, and major recipients. The website is required to include plans from federal agencies; information on federal awards of formula grants and awards of competitive grants; and information on federal allocations for mandatory and other entitlement programs by state, county, or other appropriate geographical unit. Eventually, prime recipients of Recovery Act funding will provide information on how they are using their federal funds. Currently, Recovery.gov features projections for how, when, and where the funds will be spent, as well as which states and sectors of the economy are due to receive what proportion of the funds. As money starts to flow, additional data will become available. In addition to Recovery.gov, OMB has also issued guidance directing executive branch agencies to develop a dedicated portion of their web sites for information related to the recovery. To ensure a high level of accountability, OMB has issued guidance to the heads of federal departments and agencies for implementing and managing activities enacted under the Recovery Act. OMB has also issued for comment detailed reporting requirements for Recovery Act fund recipients that include the number of jobs created and jobs retained as a result of Recovery Act funding. OMB’s guidance documents are available on Recovery.gov. In addition, the Civilian Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council have issued an interim rule revising the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require a contract clause that implements these reporting requirements for contracts funded with Recovery Act dollars. The Recovery Act also assigns GAO a range of responsibilities to help promote accountability and transparency. Some are recurring requirements such as providing bimonthly reviews of the use of funds made available under Division A of the Recovery Act by selected states and localities and reviews of quarterly reports on job creation and job retention as reported by Recovery Act fund recipients. Other requirements include targeted studies in several areas such as small business lending, education, and trade adjustment assistance. We completed the first of these mandates on April 3, 2009, by announcing the appointment of 13 members to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, a new advisory body established by the Recovery Act. The committee will make recommendations on creating a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure, including standards for the exchange of patient medical information. On April 16, 2009, we issued a report completing a second mandate to report on the actions of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to, among other things, increase liquidity in the secondary market for SBA loans. Officials in the 16 selected states and the District indicated they have used certain Recovery Act funds and continue planning for the use of additional funds they have not yet received. States’ existing intergovernmental programs—such as Medicaid, transportation, and education—have been among the first programs to receive Recovery Act funds. Planning continues for the use of Recovery Act funds for these and other program areas. States’ planning actions include appointing Recovery Czars; establishing task forces and other entities, and developing public web sites to solicit input and publicize selected projects. In some cases, according to state officials, state legislation will be required to receive and expend funds or to make required changes to programs for eligibility prior to using the funds.