State of Illinois Spends $650K of Stimulus Funds on Signs

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs “touting ‘The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’ and reminding passers-by that the program is ‘Putting America Back to Work.’” ABC News reports that “the state of Illinois has spent $650,000 on about 950...

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that the states have spent a total of around $5 million of stimulus funds on signs “touting ‘The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act’ and reminding passers-by that the program is ‘Putting America Back to Work.’”

ABC News reports that “the state of Illinois has spent $650,000 on about 950 signs and Pennsylvania has spent $157,000 on 70 signs” while “other states, like Virginia, Vermont, and Arizona do not sanction any signs.” Some states were more thrifty than others when it came to sign expenses. Tennessee spent an average of about $38 per sign– 18 times less than Illinois’s average cost of $684 per sign. Could this type of spending be part of the reason 43 percent of American voters believe that last year’s stimulus plan hurt the economy? You can read the full ABC News article here.