The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: a review of stimulus spending in New York and New Jersey

The ARRA stimulus package was designed to spur economic and employment growth in response to a deepening U.S. recession and the weakened fiscal conditions of many state governments. An analysis of the local allocation of ARRA funds shows that the $35 billion of stimulus spending in New York was relatively concentrated in expanded funding for Medicaid, while a large share of the $12 billion allocated to New Jersey went to extending unemployment insurance benefits. While ARRA funding supplemented tax revenues in both states in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the program's spending components are winding down, and New York and New Jersey can no longer rely on these federal transfers when preparing their budgets.