More than 4,460 jobs have been created or saved with the infusion of federal stimulus dollars into Maryland, according to an initial accounting that Gov. Martin O'Malley released Thursday showing how some of the money has been spent.
That level of job creation is far smaller than the 25,800 jobs lost in Maryland during the same time frame, but state officials caution that they have spent only 6 percent of more than $4 billion in anticipated federal funding. They also note that while the state was the first to funnel money into roads projects, many grants for health care programs and home weatherization have only recently been received.
The state report and a national one to be released Friday are expected to reignite the debate over the $787 billion in recovery dollars aimed at averting a longer and deeper recession. As unemployment continues to rise, Republicans have argued that the stimulus program failed. But Democrats are seizing on a just-released report that the economy is officially growing again.
"Our hope is that as recovery dollars run out, so will the recession," O'Malley said.
O'Malley, a Democrat, touted the jobs report during an event at P. Flanigan and Sons Inc.'s asphalt plant in Baltimore, which is working on three projects funded by stimulus dollars. Company officials say the money has allowed them to retain about one-third of their 300 employees.
"It has kept a lot of people working," said Steve Whitecotton, vice president of Flanigan. The jobs report was the product of an effort coordinated through Maryland's StateStat office. O'Malley acknowledged that the data might not be "perfect" but said Maryland tracks the funding it receives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "better than any other state in the union."
The accuracy of jobs statistics has been questioned after media reports showed some recipients of federal funding overstated the number of jobs created or saved in data released earlier this month. Michael R. Enright, senior adviser to O'Malley, said that the state has hired auditors and is verifying numbers against payroll information, but acknowledged that mistakes might be made.
Some Republicans have questioned whether the government spending is the appropriate way to juice the economy, favoring tax breaks and other ways to stimulate the private sector. State Sen. David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican on the Budget and Taxation Committee, said most of the stimulus-created jobs aren't permanent. He also criticized the inclusion of jobs that were "saved" because they weren't eliminated.
