President Obama recently signed a historic $787 billion economic recovery package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For Maryland, it couldn't come at a more critical moment. Unemployment is now more than 6 percent. Home prices are declining.

Under this landmark legislation, Maryland will receive $3.8 billion in direct aid and $1.63 billion in Medicaid assistance, as well as billions more in competitive grants that collectively are expected to create and save nearly 66,000 jobs in our state. It is critical that our families, businesses and municipalities have the information they need to access these funds as quickly as possible.

To help you navigate this $787 billion economic recovery package, we've assembled a Resource Guide to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 [PDF], which compiles information on many federal programs and funding opportunities available to individuals, communities and businesses in Maryland as a result of the economic recovery package. I hope you'll find this information helpful. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to call my office at (202) 224-4524 or email questions to appropriations@cardin.senate.gov.

Transparency and accountability are important to me as a United States Senator. I have and will continue to be vigilant with your tax dollars while carrying out the duties you have entrusted to me on behalf of all Marylanders. The links and resources below should help you keep track of the funds distributed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and tell you how you might be eligible to apply for some of the funds. - Senator Benjamin L. Cardin

As the centerpiece of the President's commitment to transparency and accountability, recovery.gov will feature information on how the Act is working, tools to help you hold the government accountable, and up-to-date data on the expenditure of funds. The site will include information about Federal grant awards and contracts as well as formula grant allocations. Federal agencies will provide data on how they are using the money, and eventually, prime recipients of Federal funding will provide information on how they are using their Federal funds. Click the link above or here for more info.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create jobs immediately in Maryland and across the country, helping our states and local communities by providing funding for ready-to-go projects, such as fixing crumbling roads and bridges. It puts money back in the pockets of Americans who are most likely to spend it, injecting needed capital into our economy. It helps people stay in their homes, keep their jobs, and take care of their families. It also invests in modernizing our rail and mass transit systems and allocates new funds for education, alternative energy, and health care technology, all of which will help create and save quality jobs in the short-term, but also will save us billions of dollars in the future through lower energy usage, lower health care costs, and a better trained workforce. - Senator Benjamin L. Cardin

This website will provide the Citizens of Maryland with the information and tools necessary to track the progress of Maryland's Recovery and Reinvestment plan. Click the link above or here for more info.

• Creates or saves 66,000 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." January 9, 2009.]



• Provides a making work pay tax cut of up to $800 for 2,210,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President's Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers' paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]



• Makes 53,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide - and 53,000 families in Maryland - new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]



• Offers an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 242,000 workers in Maryland who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 40,000 laid-off workers. [Source: National Employment Law Project]



• Provides funding sufficient to modernize at least 412 schools in Maryland so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. [Source: White House Estimate]



• Pumps over $430 million into Maryland's highway fund, rebuilding roads and bridges from the Eastern Shore to the mountains of Western Maryland.



• Transit programs in Maryland will see a vital infusion of over $240 million, while our drinking water and wastewater facilities will get a boost of over $123 million.

Click here for more Infrastructure & Science, Education & Training, Energy, Protecting the Vulnerable, Law Enforcement, and more. [PDF]