State Spent $2.65 Billion Of Stimulus Funds To Date

State government officials told legislators on Wednesday that roughly $2.65 billion of federal stimulus funds have been spent in Arkansas.

John Lyon with our content partner, the Arkansas News Bureau, reports:

By the end of the second quarter of this year the state had been awarded $3.1 billion from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Doris Smith, director of intergovernmental affairs for the state Department of Finance and Administration, told a legislative subcommittee on the stimulus.

Smith said the state had spent 85 percent of that money by the end of June. During the second quarter, the state spent $136 million in stimulus money. The spending has created an estimated 4,230 jobs, Smith said.

She said the state is on track to spend its remaining stimulus money before programs created under the stimulus end. Some programs will end next month and some will end in September 2012, she said.

The largest single recipient of stimulus money has been unemployment insurance. The state has spent $807.7 million, or 99 percent of the total amount awarded for that purpose.

Arkansas has spent $227.1 million on highway projects, or 68 percent of the amount awarded for that purpose.

The state has spent $30.8 million of $50.4 million awarded for weatherization assistance for low-income people.

You can read more of Lyon’s report at this link.