In August 2009, KVUE began looking into stimulus spending in Texas.
Since then a recent report has shown the federal government over-estimated the number of new jobs created by the stimulus by 60,000. Thursday, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee met to discuss concerns over how the federal stimulus money is being spent.
In February 2009, Vice President Joe Biden said, “We've got a new modern website that's going to blow you away, in terms of how detailed it is. I really mean that.”
That website is Recovery.gov.
It allows you to search a specific state, zip code or agency. This week ABC News uncovered some serious problems with the site -- numbers that didn’t quite add up.
So KVUE delved a little deeper into the Texas numbers and found money going to districts that don’t even exist.
For example, the Web site said the 52nd District received nearly $9 million in stimulus funding. The 58th District received nearly $3.7 million and 45 jobs and the 86th District nearly a million dollars and 6 jobs.
That's impossible, because Texas only has 32 congressional districts.
"I think the whole reporting process is flawed,” said U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-District 10). "According to the White House Staff there are seven phantom districts in Texas. In other words, seven districts that got money in Texas that don't even exist."
This is the statement U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-District 25) sent to KVUE:
“To local government in Travis County alone, the Economic Recovery Act has meant $103 million for roadway improvements and maintenance, $50 million to enhance educational and community initiatives in our public schools, $3 million for health care, $23 million in green energy and weatherization, $8 million for homelessness, housing, and community development $3 million for law enforcement, and $132 million for federal building construction, most of which is for our long overdue federal courthouse. And our local governments have applications pending to receive millions more. Some of those most critical of the stimulus don’t hesitate to take credit for these local benefits at groundbreakings and community gatherings.
Additionally and separately, for the State of Texas, the stimulus which he so loudly condemned has bailed out Governor Rick Perry to the tune of over $12 billion upon which he relied to balance the state budget. Unfortunately, $3.2 billion of this are resources diverted from public education across Texas as intended by us when we approved the Economic Recovery Act.
Yes, the sloppy announcement of job creation has provided an opening for attacks from those who enabled economic decline and opposed our efforts to turn the economic around. Yes, we need to insist on complete accountability and public disclosure of every federal dollar expended. Whether it is additional operators to handle 911 emergency calls, or larger paychecks for our school teachers, or more green-job training for our youth, this economy recovery act is making a real difference in our community.”
The Federal Government blames the errors on mistyping by the agencies that self report. The site has since been fixed. However, government workers are now trying to account for where the $14.7 million awarded to those non-existent districts in Texas really ended up.
According to the site, the 78701 ZIP code, which is downtown Austin, has received $3.3 billion in stimulus money. It has many wondering if we've really seen all of that money.
U.S. Representative Lamar Smith (R-District 21) said the site also says his district received the most money of any district in the state. He sent KVUE the following statement:
“The White House’s stimulus website ‘recovery.gov’ has been widely exposed as a mess and its credibility is non-existent. According to the site, Florida is the largest state in the union and Arizona has seven more members of Congress than it actually has. And because the 21st District of Texas physically includes the Capitol Building, more than $7 billion in funding for the whole state of Texas is mistakenly reported as going solely to the district. Worst of all, contrary to what the White House claims, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than three million Americans have lost their jobs this year. The Administration also said that the stimulus would create 269,000 jobs in Texas, but we lost 225,300. In this case, the administration is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."
Members of the house government reform and oversight committee Thursday asked for changes in how the stimulus money is tracked. We'll let you know whether any changes happen.
If you'd like to check out the information for yourself, here are the state and federal stimulus tracking web sites:
• Recovery.gov
