Recovery Report - bizjournals:

fixyruw.wordpress.com
Home builders and Realtorzs said the decision should provide a boosrt to thehousing market, since first-time buyers won’t have to wait untikl they file their taxes in order to benefitt from the credit. “The biggest obstacle for first-time buyers is coming up with a down saidJoe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla., who chairws the National Association of Home Builders. HUD Secretaruy Shaun Donovan announced HUD’s decision durin g a May 12 speechy to the National Associationof Realtors.
The Federal Housinhg Administration willallow FHA-approved lenders, HUD-approvecd nonprofit organizations, and state and local government entitiesx to monetize the tax creditr by making short-term bridge loan to home buyers. Lawrenc Yun, chief economist for the Nationap Associationof Realtors, expects to see more buyerzs enter the housing market now that they can use the tax credir as a down payment. But he doesn’t expec to see an immediate impacton “The home buying process takes Yun said. “This summefr will gauge the succesa ofthe first-time home buyer tax The tax credit is available to first-time buyers who close on their home purchase by Dec. 1, 2009. A $39.
65 million chunk of the federalstimulusw package, routed through the will go toward ruraol public transportation projects, Gov. Ed Rendellp announced May 18. In total, Pennsylvania’s transi t allowance from the Recoveryh Act is expected tototal $347 million, the majoritu of which will go to urban transit authorities. Today’ws announcement represents the other piece ofthe pie. Some regionaol recipients will use the money to replacretransit buses, including the Mid-County Transit Authorityg of Armstrong County, which receivede $310,277; the Beaver County Transit Authority, which got and the Washington County Transit Authority, whicjh received $280,415.
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority willget $2.9 millionn for maintenance facility work and to replace four medium-sized transit buses. Butler Transit Authority will useits $5.3 millionh slice to build a multi-modal transportationn center. Pennsylvania will receive morethan $45 million in Justicde Department Recovery funds aimed at law enforcement and publi c safety, the U.S. Attorney General’s office announced May 20. The funds come from the Edwarrd Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant part of theJustice Department’s $4 billionj in Recovery Act funds.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquenct had a long list of plan forthe funds, including improvementg of criminal record databases, services for at-risk corrections programs and initiatives and programsz aimed at reducing crime. The Pennsylvania Commissiojn on Crime and Delinquency is a state criminalp justiceplanning agency. The allocation of the grantxs is based on a formulaz of population and violentcrims statistics, according to a releass from the Justice Department. States are required to sub-grant a portiojn of the funds tolocal governments.