Local economists are questioning Gov. Martin O’Malley’s promise that proposed transportation projects paid for with federal stimulus money will support 10,000 jobs statewide.
O’Malley earmarked $365 million of federal funds last week, including $85 million on transportation projects in the Washington area that state officials said would keep or create 2,400 area jobs.
“We are acting immediately to get transportation projects out the door so we can preserve jobs, protect families and improve the economy in every region of our state,” O’Malley said. “The aggressive action we are taking to maximize the benefit of the federal dollars [is] all about jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Transportation officials said the governor’s announcement was welcome news for an industry “desperate” for jobs, in a state that has had little money for transportation projects.
“It’s the only light in the tunnel,” said Brian Holmes, president of the Maryland Transportation Builders and Materials Association.
But economists said the governor’s math, which boils down to $35,000 for every job supported, doesn’t add up.
Anirban Basu, chief executive of Baltimore economic consultancy Sage Policy Group, said much of the money spent on transportation projects would go into equipment and other costs besides wages, raising the amount of money that needs to be spent to keep or create one job.
If using an economic model that includes Maryland-specific data, the $365 million in the governor’s plan translates to about 4,500 jobs, Basu said.
Kenneth Button, the director of George Mason University’s Transportation Policy, Operations and Logistics Center, said O’Malley’s numbers about jobs were likely “arbitrary” and on the “generous side” and his proposed projects wouldn’t lead to much immediate job growth.
Button said taxpayers should remember that the stimulus money will have to be paid back, either in the form of higher taxes or increased inflation.
“It’s not money from heaven,” he said.
In all, O’Malley said the state planned to receive at least $610 million in federal stimulus money for transportation projects that would, by the state’s math, support 17,500 jobs.
A spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation said the projects outlined last week were picked because they could be started quickly. She said she did not know when future projects would be announced.
Md. road projects
» $11.9 million to resurface part of the Capital Beltway between Interstate-270 and the American Legion Bridge
» $66 million for 100 hybrid buses
» $13.5 million for replacing and building new sidewalks statewide that are compliant with federal disability laws.
» $1.7 million to clean and paint bridges in Prince George’s County.
» $2.9 million to fix up the Laurel MARC station.
