Posts Tagged ‘Recovery Act’

President Obama has a new site that allows you to track the progress we’ve made by your location (if you want you can check their numbers going through their sources by clicking on the source).

You can sniff around and see what you see, but to make it easier I’ll do a rundown of some major areas:

Health Care:

• 41,000 South Dakota residents will now have access to affordable health care because of reform
• 10,169 South Dakota seniors benefited from additional coverage when Democrats closed the Medicare donut hole
• 67,000 South Dakotans age 26 or younger can now stay on their parents’ health care coverage
• 217,000 families in South Dakota will receive tax credits and other assistance because of health care reform
• 46 community clinics were created in South Dakota by the Affordable Care Act
• 23,100 small businesses in South Dakota eligible for health care tax credits under the Affordable Care Act

Middle Class:

• 300,000 middle class families in South Dakota received a tax cut through the Recovery Act
• 16,859 new hires in South Dakota for which their emploiyer may be eligible for a tax cut through the HIRE Act, which Democrats passed to promote private-sector job growth
• 9,000 jobs created or saved through October 2010 in South Dakota because of the Recovery Act
• 217,00 families that get health care help (mentioned above)

Economy and Jobs

• 9,000 jobs created or saved (mentioned above)
• 2,215 South Dakota residents who receive relief because Democrats extended Unemployment Insurance
• 300,000 middle class tax cuts (above)
• 23,100 small businesses eligible for health care tax credit (above)

Small Business

• 23,100 small businesses eligible for health care tax credit
• 70,000 loans issued to small businesses through the Small Business Administration Recovery loan provisions (nationally)
• There is also a list of tax cuts for small businesses (8 listed, though it says Democrats have enacted more than a dozen tax cuts for small businesses)

Education

• 500 education jobs in South Dakota have been saved because of the deficit-neutral state-aid bill Democrats passed
• $5,975 can be received from Pell Grant scholarships by 2017 for eligible students
• 23,000 South Dakota families received college tuition help in 2009 from the American Opportunity Tax Credit
• $130,165,683 invested in higher education in South Dakota over the next 10 years

Energy

• 31 Department of Energy Recovery Act projects in South Dakota that will help secure our energy future
• 1,809 South Dakota homes weatherized through the Energy Department between February 2009 and September 2010, reducing energy bills and increasing energy efficiency
• $74,900,000 invested in South Dakota through the Recovery Act for clean-energy projects

There are also stories from South Dakotans about how policies have benefited them. Here is one from Kayla in Brookings, SD:

When Kayla was just 9 years old, she was in a motorcycle accident. While her insurance plan covered her medical expenses, she contracted chronic osteomyelitis, a chronic bone infection. Since contracting the disease she has had over 25 surgeries on her leg. Kayla is now 22 years old and a full time nursing student at South Dakota State University, but in five months, she would have lost her coverage. The new law will make it possible for Kayla to remain on her parents’ plan.

There are other things and stories you can explore, but this should give you an idea of what there is. I think it was a good idea to lay it out state by state (or in larger states, by congressional district).

Enjoy the tolerable weather.

Adam Feser