Why was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) passed?
ARRA, or more commonly referred to as the federal economic stimulus package, was signed into law on February 17, 2009 in response to the economic crisis facing the United States. The Act had several ambitious goals: (1) to promote economic recovery, keep employed Americans in their jobs and create new jobs; (2) assist those most hard-hit to weather through the tough economic times, and help state and city governments to preclude service cuts and tax hikes; (3) fund advances in science, technology, infrastructure, education, clean energy and other crucial growing sectors; and (4) set a new standard for transparency into the allocation of these taxpayer dollars.
