Research Briefing

Stimulus Funds Wasted In Colorado As Jobs Continue To Be Lost

STIMULUS FAILURE BY THE NUMBERS: JOBS CONTINUE TO BE LOST IN THE CENTENNIAL STATE 

Since The Stimulus Was Passed Last February, Over 76,000 Jobs Have Been Lost In Colorado. (U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/12/10)

Unemployment Has Increased In Colorado By Over 4 Percent In Colorado. (U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/12/10)

Unemployment Rate Has Jumped From 7.2 Percent To 7.5 Percent. (U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/12/10) 

AND COLORADO IS NO STRANGER TO STIMULUS WASTE, FRAUD AND ABUSE

Millions In Stimulus Money Went To Phantom District In Colorado. “Have you ever heard of Colorado's ‘00’ Congressional District? Neither has anyone else, except for the federal agency assigned to dole out the $787 billion stimulus plan. In fact the ‘00’ Congressional District received more than $10 million in stimulus funds. The mythical 64th CD got $33,195 according to recovery.gov, which allows the public to ‘Track the Money’ online. The website lists 14 jobs created in the non-existent 64th.” (Leland Vittert, “Millions In Stimulus Funds Went To Non-Existent Colo. Districts,” KDVR, 10/18/09)

Recovery.gov Report “Inflated” Number Of Jobs “Created Or Saved” In Colorado. “Click on the computerized map of the state of Colorado on the federal government's stimulus-spending Web page, and it displays 8,094 full-time jobs created or saved in the state… It's a number that is inflated by at least 1,000 jobs, the result of confusing reporting requirements, inaccurate reporting and, perhaps, overreaching at some reporting agencies.” (Burt Hubbard, “Stimulus-Jobs Count In Colorado Overinflated,” The Denver Post, 11/10/09)

• Recovery.gov Also Reports That 292 Jobs Were Created, But All Funds Went To Wage Increases, Not New Jobs. “Similar confusion led the Community Partnership for Child Development in Colorado Springs to submit a job figure of 269 and the Head Start program in Center in Saguache County to report 23 full-time jobs saved and created… In both cases, the stimulus money was used for cost-of-living increases for staff, some training and an extra day's pay for the Center workers, officials for both programs said… ‘They weren't created,’ said Mary McClure, director of the Center Head Start program. ‘They were supplemented with a cost-of-living increase. That was kind of confusing to us.’” (Burt Hubbard, “Stimulus-Jobs Count In Colorado Overinflated,” The Denver Post, 11/10/09)

Colorado Town Spent $10,000 On Two Laptops And Falsely Claimed Two Jobs Were Created. “[T]he submission for the town of Frisco on the $10,381 it got for two toughbook, laptop computers for the Police Department. ‘This grant did not create any jobs,’ the town said in the comment section. ‘But it did make it easier for the existing officers to do their jobs properly.’… It then listed two jobs.” (Burt Hubbard, “Stimulus-Jobs Count In Colorado Overinflated,” The Denver Post, 11/10/09)

Colorado Company Overstated Jobs Created By Over 3,000. “Colorado-based Teletech Government Solutions had worked with the Federal Communications Commission to come up with a job count for its $28.3 million contract for call centers fielding consumer questions about conversion of televisions to receive digital signals. The company reported creating 4,231 jobs the highest number listed in the first stimulus accounting even though 3,000 of those workers received a paycheck for five weeks or less… Now the job count is being adjusted to less than 1,000, Tan said, to meet the requirement that a job reported is equal to a full-time, 40-hour-a-week position held for one year.” (Matt Apuzzo, “Stimulus Jobs Overstated By Thousands,” The Associated Press, 10/29/09)

Colorado Spent Almost $250,000 On Stimulus Signs. “The state has spent as much as $247,000 in stimulus money to post the signs along about 100 construction sites letting drivers know the work is being paid for with stimulus money. The signs also bear the name of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.”(Dems Reject Scrapping Signs At Colorado Stimulus Projects,” The Associated Press, 1/22/10)