Alabama Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program

Need a new appliance? Why not apply for the Alabama Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program? Check the site for all of the rules but you must replace an existing appliance with a new Energy Star qualified appliance. The purchase date must be after April 19, 2010 and the rebate only lasts until the funds are depleted. As a matter of fact, the funds are from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Note - this program is only for the state of Alabama residents.

Documents of the Week: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Authority

The documents on display this week are from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Authority, otherwise known as HUD.

• Building Partnerships Building Futures
• Relocation Assistance to Displaced Homeowners
• Suddenly thousands of families who couldn't buy a home, can (Vietnamese)
• Are You a Victim of Housing Discrimination?
• Danger in the home
• Resident Rights and Responsibilities (Russian)
• U.S. Housing Market Conditions, August 1997
• Preserving Historic America
• Open Space for Urban America
• Best Practices for Effecting the Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing
• Curbing Predatory Home Mortgage Lending: A Joint Report, June 2000
• Help Yourself to a Health Home
• Fair Housing Act, Fair Housing Act as Amended (Title 8) (Braille)
• County Planning and Development Training, 2003 & 2004 Courses
• The State of the Cities, 1998
• 100 Q&A About Buying a New Home
• Home Buyer's Vocabulary
• Renewing Government

Electronic Documents

• Homes for Sale by the U.S. Government
• Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure
• HUD Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

Fraud and the Recovery Act

The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has a list of resources to aid you with identifying and reporting Recovery Act fraud.

State Recovery Sites

From Recovery.gov, a map of state recovery sites.

COBRA & The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

From the website:
"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides for premium reductions and additional election opportunities for health benefits under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, commonly called COBRA. Eligible individuals pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums and the remaining 65 percent is reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit. The premium reduction applies to periods of health coverage beginning on or after February 17, 2009 and lasts for up to nine months for those eligible for COBRA during the period beginning September 1, 2008 and ending December 31, 2009 due to an involuntary termination of employment that occurred during that period. The TAA Health Coverage Improvement Act of 2009, enacted as part of ARRA, also made changes with regard to COBRA continuation coverage."

For more information, see COBRA Assistance under ARRA.

Documents of the Week: U.S. Department of the Interior

This week, we are happy to showcase a selection of documents from the Department of the Interior:

• Water, Ice, and Meteorological Measurements at South Cascade Glacier, Washington, Balance Year 2002
• Education in the United States of American, Bulletin 1939, Misc. No. 3
• Carl Sandburg Home
• Blue Ridge Parkway: Virginia Trails
• Benton Lake
• Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
• Death Valley National Monument
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast Ecological Inventory
• Reclamation era
• Earthquakes & Volcanoes, 1988
  
• Answers to your questions about American Indians
• Standing Witness: Devils Tower National Monument: a History
• Frederick Douglass
• More Readings from One Man's Wilderness: The Journals of Richard L. Proenneke, 1974-1880
• My Forefathers are still Walking with Me: Verbal Essays on Qizhjeh and Tsaynen Dena'ina Traditions
• The Duck Stamp Collection
• Clara Barton National Historic Site: Historic Structure Report
• National Parks Webcams (Glacier National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park & more!)
• Interior Recovery
• Sport Fishes
  

Secretary Arne Duncan Announces $44 Billion Now Available Under the Recovery Act

That is the title of the press release given by Arne Duncan, the Department of Education's secretary yesterday. Go to the DoE recovery site for the press release along with guidance and fact sheets.

Documents of the Week: United States Department of Justice

Documents from the Department of Justice will be on display this week.

• Domestic Violence by Police Officers
• Use of Computers in the Sexual Exploitation of Children
• Steriod Abuse by School Age Children
• School Disruptions: Tips for Educators and Police
• Our Immigration: A Brief Account of Immigration to the United States
• The Border Patrol: Its Origin and Its Mission
• Help for Victims of Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labor
• But I can Work
• The Department of Justice
• Interpol
• Getting Started as a Federal Judge
• United States History: 1600-1987
• Federal Offenders, 1941
• The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008
• Drugs of Abuse
• Drugs & Terrorism: Teacher Lesson Plans
• Career Resource Centers
• The Sexual Victimization of College Women
• Research on Women and Girls in the Justice System
• Juvenile Justices
• Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Murder in Families
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2003
• Recovery Act Information
  

Department of Defense Recovery Act Projects

The DoD has a Recovery Act site listing their projects since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 distributed $7.4 billion to the DoD.

More Stimulus Watch Sites & Scams

• SBA.gov click on Scam Alert
• Financialstability.gov from the Department of Treasury
  
• Emergency Economic Stabilization Act also from the Department of Treasury
• Congressional Research Reports search
• Congressional Budget Office Stimulus Proposals
• An Act to Provide Economic Stimulus through Recovery Rebates to Individuals, Incentives for Business Investment, and an Increase in Conforming and FHA Loan Limits, Public Law 110-185

Open.Alabama.gov

A new website, Open.Alabama.gov, has been created for Alabamians to track how our state leaders distribute the money received from the federal stimulus package.

Stimulus Watch

Stimulus Watch isn't a government site but I thought you all might be interested since the city of Birmingham is included. Be sure to read the FAQs since they give more information about the folks that put this site together and why.

ARRA

Would you like to comment on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? Provided by the White House with links to the final text.

Don't forget to follow the money at Recovery.gov.

The Gavel

On Nancy Pelosi's blog, The Gavel, you will find links to the text of the conference report of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Congress Reaches Stimulus Accord (Washington Post)

Details Emerge of a Trimmer Stimulus Bill (New York Times)

Compare the House and Senate versions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Curious about the differences between the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill?

recovery.gov

The House passed the stimulus package yesterday. In expectation of it being passed by the Senate, a website, recovery.gov, has been created. The purpose is to show us exactly "how and where your tax dollars are spent." from website