According to updated data released by the Colorado Department of Transportation, 576 jobs have been “created or sustained” in the state as a result of money allocated under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act through June, with a total payroll of $661,621. But critics of the stimulus plan say the jobs claimed by the state aren't likely to help grow the economy in the long run.
COLORADO'S FRONTPAGE
Face the State
Content Index: Colorado Department of Transportation
Follow this topic by RSSCDOT stimulus payroll $661k through June
July 29, 20097/1: Not too stimulating
Just how stimulating is the federal stimulus bill?
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When is a job created? Obama team ventures a guess
June 30, 2009
The White House is responding to requests from state agencies struggling with how to accurately track and report jobs that have been "created or sustained" as a result of the federal stimulus. As reported last week by Face The State, the Colorado Department of Transportation has claimed only 65 jobs - most of them "sustained" - a small drop in the bucket toward Obama's goal of 3.5 million nationwide.
Is the federal stimulus creating jobs?
Is the federal stimulus package, passed earlier this year to jump-start the economy, having its intended effect? As FTS staff writer Kate Melvin discovered, state data indicates few jobs, if any, are truly "created" by upping transportation spending.
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CDOT so far claims 65 jobs, $83k payroll from stimulus
A Face the State Staff Report
June 24, 2009
Face The State has obtained data from the Colorado Department of Transportation claiming 65 jobs "created or sustained" as a result of the federal stimulus package through May, though a breakout of new jobs is unavailable. According to CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman, "the stimulus really saved jobs more than it created them."
Ritter's $1,237 thank you card
May 22, 2009This week Gov. Bill Ritter commemorated the start of Colorado’s first highway project funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known the Obama stimulus plan.
As part of the groundbreaking ceremony, Ritter unveiled the highway signs that will mark each stimulus-funded project.
Earmarks focus heavily on transportation
A Face the State Staff Report
April 16, 2009Members of Colorado's Congressional delegation have released their requests for federal appropriations funding, commonly called earmarks. Of Colorado's seven representatives, six, excluding Rep. Mike Coffman, an Aurora Republican, requested earmarks totaling over $1 billion, half of which were transportation requests for the Regional Transportation District and the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Left and Right unite to say no transit condemnation power
A Face the State Staff Report
April 15, 2009
During a House debate Tuesday over Senate Bill 94, which would create a new transit bureaucracy within the Colorado Department of Transportation for "planning, development, operation, and integration of transit and rail into the statewide transportation system,” an amendment was offered that would deny the new division condemnation authority over private property on the eastern plains.
Marostica: total number of state employees unknown
A Face the State Staff Report
April 14, 2009According to Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, it is nearly impossible to calculate how many state employees there are.
FTS Humor: A brief history of Colorado's transportation woes
Face The State Humor
March 7, 2009The money is flowing into the Capitol at a furious pace. The gas tax, rental car tax, toll booths, the TABOR grab, registration fee hike. Tired, broke, and beaten down, you ask the state a last question. "Do you really think I can keep handing money over to you at this pace?"
Railroad companies caught in the middle of eminent domain bill
A Face the State Staff Report
February 4, 2009
In Tuesday's Senate Transportation Committee meeting senators voted 4-3 to indefinitely postpone a bill that would have prevented railroad companies from exercising their right to use eminent domain. The bill was in response to CDOT's forthcoming proposal to relocate freight rail away from the Front Range and to eastern Colorado in order to facilitate the implementation of passenger rail systems in the metro area. Trapped in the middle of this legislation were railroad companies, who expressed little desire to relocate or use eminent domain.
11/17: Bad ideas [sadly] never die
In government, when a bad idea is rejected, what do you do? Try, try again.
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Segment 3 - Transportation funding
The state's blue ribbon commission on transportation met for the second year in a row, but will it produce any workable ideas for increasing funding? Tax and fee proposals for highways proved unpopular during the last legislative session, but that isn't stopping some state bureaucrats from trying again. Face The State's Rachel Boxer has the story.
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Rep. Cory Gardner on Amendment 52
Guest-hosting on Newstalk 1310 KFKA, Face The State's Brad Jones speaks with State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, about Amendment 52, which would increase state money dedicated to highway maintenance.
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