How the stimulus pie is cut in Colorado

October 29, 5:12 PMColorado Education ExaminerTodd Engdahl

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Whatever your economic beliefs about government spending, or your political feelings about President Obama, there's no denying that the federal stimulus has - and will - pump lots of money into Colorado.

The stimulus bureaucrats in the governor's office have been toting up the money - as they're required to do by federal bureaucrats - and recently reported what they calculated.

It's estimated that Colorado and its residents are due to receive about $5.5 billion in stimulus money and benefits over the three-year life of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

A little over $1 billion of that is in tax cuts and Social Security payments for individuals. More than $600 million is for unemployment benefits and job training, and nearly $850 million is for health care, such as Medicaid.

Education stimulus spending in the state adds up to about $1.1 billion, more than half of which is going to the state's public colleges and universities to replace state support that's been cut.

Interestingly, only about $1.2 billion of the grand total has been spent, meaning the impact of most of those dollars is yet to be felt.

Get the details on school and college stimulus spending from Education News Colorado.