As this issue of Insurance Journal South Central Edition went to press, Oklahoma officials were set to award $250 million in contracts for much needed road and bridge improvements in that state. The money is part of the $465 million Oklahoma stands to receive as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), or the federal economic stimulus package, for road and bridge construction projects.
Gov. Brad Henry said the projects will create jobs and provide a boost to the Oklahoma economy. It couldn’t come at a better time. Oklahoma, like every other state, is suffering its share of woes from the economic downturn. The state’s unemployment rate for February 2009 was 5.9 percent, lower than the national average of 8 percent but 2.4 percent higher than it was at the same time last year. Pockets of the state report more severe unemployment. Tillman County, for example, had an 11.5 percent unemployment rate in February, the highest in the state, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
The state also is expecting to receive between $10 million and $15 million from the stimulus package to rehabilitate high-hazard earthen flood protection dams across the state, according to the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD). The money will come from the $50 million in stimulus funds being distributed nationally for rehabilitation of upstream flood control structures. The state is obligated to match the funding it receives for the dam projects.
“Oklahoma has 2,105 upstream flood control structures, more than any other state,” OACD President Trey Lam said during a press conference announcing the dam rehabilitation initiatives. “As our flood control infrastructure ages, we literally are in a race against time when it comes to our ability to continue protecting people and property from flooding. These funds will be put to good use.”
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Oklahoma is part of the $50 million in stimulus funding being distributed nationally with the goal of creating new jobs and repairing critical infrastructure.
“In Oklahoma, stimulus funds will be used to rehabilitate flood control structures with dollars going to the projects where the greatest risk of structure failure and threat to life and property exist,” the OACD said in its press release. “It is anticipated that additional local jobs will be created by this rehabilitation work. In addition, dollars will be spent with local businesses for supplies and services associated with the projects.”
New jobs, money spent with local businesses and much needed safety improvements to the state’s infrastructure are a positive combination for the state. They will go a long way to making Oklahoma even more … OK.
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