It's been three years since Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the Stimulus. Its purpose was to create jobs and get the struggling economy back on track. But has it made an impact in Connecticut?
NBC Connecticut teamed with the non-profit investigative news group, ProPublica, to see if your tax dollars are making a difference. ProPublica compiled Stimulus data from government websites and other recovery spending records.
The data led NBC Connecticut to Branford, where a $70,000,000 Amtrak bridge construction project over Route 1 is being funded by the Stimulus.
"I don't know if the project would happen without it," said Eileen Ego of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Drivers in Branford for years have been forced into a bottleneck under the older bridge, but the new bridge is expected to open up traffic.
"The bridge will be higher. A lot of trucks won't get stuck under the bridge anymore," said Tim Cooney of JFY Contracting.
Cooney said the bridge project has created between 80 and 100 jobs. Construction is expected to be completed in 2014.
NBC Connecticut also learned the town of Stafford received more than $5,000,000 in Stimulus money to upgrade its water treatment plant. The overhauled facility includes pumps that can operate beneath the water in case of flooding. Also, energy-efficient turbo blowers reduce nitrogen levels to pump cleaner water into the nearby Willimantic River.
"These types of projects are going to make sure that we have a pure, clean Long Island Sound," said Democratic Congressman Joe Courtney.
ProPublica data shows Connecticut received more than $5.2 billion in Stimulus money, but there are still many Stimulus projects listed as "not started" or "less than 50 percent complete". That could mean recipients are sitting on unused Stimulus cash and not creating jobs.
"Obviously, in something this big there's going to be problems and it had been a fully transparent program and there's going to be lots of audits," Courtney said.
ProPublica said it’s up to the Stimulus recipients to update whether they've spent their money and started their projects.
Connecticut's unemployment rate is down almost one point since the height of the Great Recession. However, the Connecticut Republican Party chairman calls the Stimulus a disappointment.
"In Connecticut, the Stimulus was used to balance the budget, cover revenue gaps and increase government spending with dollars that were temporary and therefore did nothing to create permanent jobs or a permanent solution to Connecticut's structural budget problems," said chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr.
There are other examples of Stimulus in which "shovel ready" jobs don't come to mind. The town of Trumbull received more than $17,000 for police car video systems. Wesleyan University received $275,000 in Stimulus money for astronomy research, although a university spokesperson said several students received stipends.
Hundreds of small businesses also indirectly benefited from the Stimulus, including a lingerie shop and a horse cremation business. Business owners who had applied for government-backed loans from private banks did not have pay Small Business Administration fees.
Connecticut Horse Cremation, LLC received no free money from the Stimulus, just a better deal. Co-owner Jeff Blaschke and his business partner saved more than $3,000 when they took out a loan from a private bank. The savings helped them purchase expensive equipment, including a high-tech incinerator and a specially-designed trailer.
"We spend a lot of money on our horses. We love them to death and we really wanted a better way to give them a dignified ending to their lives," Blaschke said.
Blaschke said his business is the only one of its kind in Connecticut.
