First round of stimulus funds is quickly putting some people back to work

Bob Sanders reports in the New Hampshire Business Review that New Hampshire is ahead of its neighbors in spending federal stimulus money, especially the NH Department of Transportation:

Indeed, the money is flying out the door so fast, that government regulators have had trouble keeping up with it. The Office of Economic Stimulus has been placing bidding opportunities on its Web site, a hodgepodge of links to other government agencies. It wasn’t until May, at NHBR’s request, that it published a list of who is getting the work.

Of course, New Hampshire is light years ahead of the federal government when it comes to disclosure. Despite President Obama’s assurance that the spending of stimulus money would come with “an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability so that every American will be able to go online and see where and how we're spending every dime,” the federal sites have yet to specify who is getting the money, or how many jobs they will create.

The federal government won’t even require that information until October. Indeed, states can’t even report it to the federal government if they wanted to. The federal Web site, federalreporting.gov, which was supposed to be the portal for the accountability demanded, is still “currently under construction.”

Fortunately, so are some of the roads and bridges in New Hampshire. Most experts expected that the most “shovel-ready” projects would involve building and paving highways, and New Hampshire, where the 10-year highway plan has been a wistful wish list for more than a decade, was ready.