Idaho has received nearly four times as much money in federal stimulus contracts than hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. And Louisiana has three times as many residents.
According to Recovery.gov, only four of the 30,383 jobs created by stimulus contracts nationwide have gone to residents of New Orleans. Louisiana has benefited from a total of 563 jobs.
Idaho has received nearly four times as much money in federal stimulus contracts than hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. And Louisiana has three times as many residents.
Click here to read my full report on the newly released government data.
According to data released Thursday on the government-run Web site Recovery.gov, sparsely populated Idaho has received $478 million in federal stimulus contracts resulting from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Federal recovery contracts there have gone to build a new water treatment facility in the city of Lava Hot Springs and to lay down a fresh layer of asphalt on remote roads in Clearwater National Forest.
Louisiana, by contrast, has received just $116 million in federal stimulus contracts. And most of the biggest contracts have gone to companies headquartered outside the state, including a $29 million contract to repair dikes along the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish (which went to a Texas company), and a $14 million plan to repair and rebuild a new airstrip at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in New Orleans (which went to a South Carolina firm).
According to Recovery.gov, only four of the 30,383 jobs created by stimulus contracts nationwide have gone to residents of New Orleans. Louisiana has benefited from a total of 563 jobs.