Warner Sees Benefit in Recovery Act

By Broadside Interim News Editor Kevin Loker

With H.R. 1 signed into law last week, Northern Virginia residents and George Mason University students joined citizens across the country in watching the much-debated “stimulus package” take form as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), while acknowledging the law is “not perfect,” says he believes Northern Virginia is situated well with great potential to benefit from many of the Recovery Act’s projects. “I think in many ways Northern Virginia will perhaps benefit more than most regions,” said Warner.

“For one, we still have our unemployment numbers in Northern Virginia still way below national averages.” As of December 2008, the region showed an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. National unemployment averages are currently estimated at 7.6 percent.

“Second, with the administration component of this, in terms of a lot of these initiatives being run through the federal government, we’ll have some sort of spillover effect in terms of benefit by being in the greater capital area,” said Warner, “and third, my hope is that Virginia can position itself as a leader in this healthcare IT area, [as well as] in the energy space, which will be long-term economic opportunities for the region.”

According to Recovery.org, the White House’s new website designed to show the distribution of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, these two areas that Warner hopes Northern Virginia can harbor will be receiving a substantial portion of federal funding. Out of the approximately $59 billion devoted to healthcare, $19 billion alone has been dedicated to health information technology, including the further development of electronic health records.

Over $30 billion is reserved to transform the nation’s energy transmission, distribution and production systems and allowing for a “smarter and better grid” and a general focus in renewable technology. Warner says factors like these, in combination with Northern Virginia being the most robust part of the state’s economy, allow him to make the claim that out of the 93,000 jobs expected to be created or saved in the Commonwealth of Virginia, more than 35,000 will be located in Northern Virginia.

“If you’re talking directly to [Mason] students, [these regional opportunities] might brighten an otherwise gloomy job market,” said Warner. Beyond work healthcare IT and smart-grids, Warner said there was another option to consider for the college students who still may be trying to figure out a career—or major—in light of the current economy. “I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities actually inside the federal government,” said Warner.

“A lot of these program areas are going to see 10 times more money going through them than they’ve ever had before, so just the personnel to help administer these programs will be necessary.” Warner also gave additional insight to his support of the act. “If I had been drafting it, I would have made changes—more changes—but overall I’m pleased because the alternative, with something to say of doing nothing, is totally irresponsible,” said Sen. Warner, “ . . . While not perfect, I was very ready to support it.”