Ask anyone with a whit of political savvy and they’ll tell you Nov. 2 will be be a reflection of voter sentiment about jobs and the economy. If so, the stimulus report referenced in this “too little, too late” Las Vegas Review-Journal story does not bode well for Harry Reid and Nevada’s other incumbents.
According to an analysis of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies received and spent in the Silver State, only two-thirds of expected funds have even been received and much of it has not gone to job creation:
The state is estimated to receive $2.3 billion in federal funding, with $2.1 billion of that coming by the end of the first quarter, Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis reported in a second-quarter market briefing prepared for the Las Vegas chapter of Associated General Contractors.
The actual amount received was $1.53 billion, roughly 66 percent of the total. The largest share of the funds ($537 million) has been dedicated to extending unemployment benefits, while the next-largest share ($353 million) is going to health and human services.
“If you look at where the stimulus is going, how the funds were allocated and how unemployment is allocated, it’s a pretty clear focus of where we’re placing the stimulus money,” Aguero said. “Very little of it is going to put people back to work.”
The state’s official estimate of jobs created through stimulus funding so far is roughly 4,200. Total unemployment statewide is just over 193,000.