Virginia Stimulus Web Site More Interactive

"As we all begin the stimulus decision-making process, this information will help us better understand the needs of our citizens." -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (pictured)

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today announced an updated Stimulus.Virginia.Gov with new interactive features and capabilities allowing users to view submitted projects by location or category. He also announced that the evaluation of submitted projects will begin on Friday, March 6, 2009.

"The new additions to Stimulus.Virginia.Gov will make the site even more useful to citizens, localities and organizations across the commonwealth as they can now monitor and obtain information for project ideas based on their specific interests," Kaine said. "As we all begin the stimulus decision-making process, this information will help us better understand the needs of our citizens."

Since its launch on February 10, citizens, local governments and other groups have submitted more than 3,300 project ideas for potential funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Visitors to Stimulus.Virginia.Gov can now view all of the submitted project ideas in a number of interactive graphical formats under the new "Reports" tab and "Maps, Charts and Graphs" link.

The new reporting page offers 4 new presentations of the information including:

• An interactive map of Virginia that breaks down the projects by county
• A project breakdown by category (infrastructure, education, etc.)
• A cost breakdown of submitted projects by category
• A daily tally of projects submitted

Each graph allows users to drill-down for greater detail depending on their locality or category of interest.

All Web site submissions received by Friday, March 6, 2009 will be categorized and reviewed by the appropriate cabinet secretaries, the Governor's Policy Office, and the Department of Planning and Budget. The project reviews and recommendations will be completed in time for the governor to work with the General Assembly to allocate funding and make any required policy or program changes in advance of the reconvened session of the General Assembly.

Because some program areas of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have different deadlines, citizens and groups can continue to submit requests. The Web site will be updated regularly with information on each program as it becomes available.