7 Million in Recovery Act Grant Funding Coming to Missouri Airports
President Obama with Senator Claire McCaskill, left, of Missouri, and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill announced today that the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) is providing the State of Missouri with $7 million in federal grant money funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which aims to stabilize the economy and create local jobs. The money is being provided through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and will be distributed by the Missouri Department of Transportation to airports across the state.
Funding to states and localities through the economic recovery package will be allocated through existing federal programs, rather than earmarks, in order to ensure prompt distribution and better accountability. Local projects receive funds from these grants by following the process set up by each program. During Congressional consideration of the economic recovery bill, McCaskill worked to put additional accountability measures in place.
McCaskill believes that federal grants and loans are a positive alternative to earmarks, which in the past have been authorized during a secretive process with little accountability. Competitive merit and need based federal grants and low-interest government loans bring federal assistance to Missouri in an honest and fiscally responsible manner.
