A memo sent at 4:58 p.m. on Jan. 20 from the office of Tim Hughes, Director Legislative Affairs Division for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, shows the state started asking for economic stimulus projects from local governments via state legislators on that date. The

Michigan Messenger ran a report earlier the same day noting the governor’s office was still working on an “inventory,” of potential projects. As previously reported, Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd said:

“Our review is ongoing. We are preparing for the economic recovery plan. We are working on a plan. We are working on an inventory that would be related to that plan.”
 
Asked when such a plan would be made available to the public, Boyd said, “We cannot give you a time line. We fully expect to be ready to go when the economic recovery plan is ready.”

Attached to the memo was the following mission statement:

Michigan Economic Recovery for Jobs Planning Team

MISSION STATEMENT

Maximize job creation opportunities and help for citizens as a result of federal assistance provided through the federal government’s economic development package. Identify “shovel-ready” projects that will preserve and create job opportunities in the short term and improve Michigan’s economy and infrastructure in the long term. This effort will require steadfast precision and accountability in the development and prioritization of an inventory of qualifying projects for presentation to the Governor by no later than January 30, 2009. Qualifying criteria for identifying such projects shall include but not be limited to those that will: (i) be implemented within 90, 120, or 180 days of passage of the federal economic stimulus package; (ii) achieve full disbursement of the federal funds in 2 years; (iii) preserve and create employment; (iv) provide maximum economic impact to all communities, but particularly to those most economically disadvantaged; and (v) to the extent practicable, include greening opportunities and sustainability measures.

(Keep in mind Michigan Messenger’s Eartha Melzer’s interview with State Rep. Wayne Schmidt of Traverse City; Schmidt said, “People are rushing to come up with projects without really understanding the guidelines.” Some might wonder if the mission statement was not readily understood as a guideline.)

Here’s Hughes’ memo:

Memorandum

Date: January 20, 2009

To: Members of Michigan Legislature

From: Tim Hughes, Director Legislative Affairs Division

Subject: Federal Economic Recovery Bill

As you know, a federal economic recovery bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. We are in the process of assembling an inventory of potential projects that can meet the federal government’s criteria for funding so that we can make complete use of the funds that will come to the state. We have received a number of inquiries about how to best submit projects for consideration for funding. I hope the information below and the attached files will help you in that process. The attachments include;

• A mission statement explaining how we hope to maximize job opportunities and stimulate the economy through the expenditure of these funds.
• An inventory template to be completed for project submissions.
• A copy of the federal legislation.
• The discussion draft for the federal legislation.

If you have an interest in submitting potential projects, other than transportation projects, we ask that you complete the inventory template and submit it to inventory @ michigan.gov. For those of you who have already sent in projects for consideration, we ask that you resubmit them using the template. The template includes a separate spreadsheet which contains a useful index of definitions used in the federal plan, such as “shovel ready” and “federal funding stream”. Lastly, note that the template fields for “job creation” and “job preservation” have been grayed out – this is because we will be working with MEDC to calculate and complete these fields for all submitted inventories. You may therefore leave these fields blank. E-mail sent to this address will be monitored by a specialist who can answer any questions that you may have.

We expect Transportation funding will follow established federal aid processes. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and rural task forces will prioritize local transportation expenditures. Please refer inquiries about local transportation economic stimulus projects to the local organization that coordinates transportation projects with Michigan Department of Transportation. All communities are part of either an MPO or a rural task force; those organizations will be identifying “ready to go” projects through their normal process. As with the normal transportation funding process, we expect funds will be provided through a reimbursement program, generally after project completion for roads and after costs are incurred for transit. Timeliness will be crucial, with an anticipated requirement that contracts will be awarded as early as 90 days after the bill is signed. We want to make this a transparent and inclusive process and will forward more information on the federal legislation as it becomes available.

Thank you.

Tim Hughes, Director
Legislative Affairs Division
Office of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm

Michigan Messenger continues to pour over various documents, lists and governmental communications to identify the stimulus projects that are being floated. Some of the lists can be found in our coverage here, here and here. Please help us out and let us know of any projects on these lists you think are questionable, or let us know if some key projects don’t appear on these lists.