NATIONAL NEWS

Press Release: Administration Officials Visiting Over 35 Communities This Week to Survey Recovery Act Progress, Job Creation at One-Year Mark
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/administration-officials-visiting-over-35-communities-week-survey-recovery-act-prog
As the Recovery Act crosses the one-year mark, Administration officials will travel to over 35 communities across the country this week to survey Recovery Act progress to-date and continue the Administration’s push for additional job creation measures to put more people back to work.  Governors, mayors and Members of Congress will participate in the meetings and events, which will be held in more than 25 states and in every region of the country.  Full roster below...

Council on Foreign Relations: The Stimulus Report Card
http://www.cfr.org/publication/21440/stimulus_report_card.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2Fby_type%2Fbackgrounder
...Many economists argue that investing in infrastructure promotes long-term economic growth by lowering business costs and increasing productivity. A January 2009 paper (PDF) by the University of Massachusetts' Political Economy Research Institute said gross domestic product and public infrastructure investment have risen and fallen together since the 1950s, while infrastructure investment growth has on average lagged economic growth since 1980. Heritage Foundation fellow Ronald Utt says the relationship between infrastructure spending and economic activity is modest and its impact often delayed.

US PIRG: The Recovery Act at One Year - New Jobs Data Show Growing Advantage from Stimulus Investments in Public Transportation
http://www.uspirg.org/news-releases/transportation-news/transportation-news/washington-d.c.-the-recovery-act-at-one-year---new-jobs-data-show-growing-advantage-from-stimulus-investments-in-public-transportation
Through the end of 2010, stimulus investments in public transportation have created almost twice as many jobs per dollar as highway spending – and the advantage is growing.  The most recent data from states, recently made available by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. That difference has grown by more than 1,000 job-months over the last two months of official state spending reports.

Huffington Post: Gallup: Americans Think #1 Way to Create Jobs - Protect Manufacturing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/gallup-americans-think-1_b_465017.html
...As Congress looks for ways to solve the unemployment crisis it should invest in increased infrastructure spending with Strong Buy America provisions. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $2.2 trillion is needed over five years to bring it back to proper conditions. Investing in infrastructure does more than put people to work right away building roads, bridges, etc; it helps create the type of environment business to succeed--something China is kicking our butt in. It also helps American manufacturing grow as jobs gains from infrastructure investment can increase by up to 33 percent when strong Buy America provisions are included.  In order to have a real jobs bill, we must invest heavily in infrastructure with a strong Buy America provisions. It would also help Creating would help states a $357 billion budget shortfall and local governments are facing an additional $80 billion budget shortfall. This could help create million of jobs, revitalize American manufacturing, and keeps states from being forced to choose between cutting education or stopping bridges from falling down.

STATE NEWS

DC Streetsblog: Study: Even in Car-Centric Atlanta, Transport Reform is Health Reform
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/02/16/study-even-in-car-centric-atlanta-transport-reform-is-health-reform/
The connection between transportation reform -- an emphasis on land use that makes biking and walking as viable as auto travel for routine trips -- and health reform is one that's not often made, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration. But a team of researchers led by Lawrence Frank of the University of British Columbia took a particularly novel approach to the relationship between transport and health for a study recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine. For their observations, the group eschewed Chicago, New York, Portland, or other highly walkable cities in favor of sprawl-heavy Atlanta.