President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) on February 17, 2009, requiring $787 billion of "stimulus" funds to be allocated to jumpstart the U.S. economy and save or create millions of jobs. The state of Illinois anticipates receiving approximately $8.3 billion in stimulus funds by the end of fiscal year 2010. As of September 2009, the federal government had announced $10.6 billion of stimulus funds to be distributed to the state of Illinois, made $8.6 billion available for state of Illinois projects and paid out $4.3 billion to the state. The state of Illinois is investing approximately $935 million of stimulus funds in roads, highways and bridges, and as of August 2009, it had spent $170.6 million in highway stimulus funds, the most in the country and more than double the expenditures of the next highest state, Iowa. Illinois also ranked third in the nation overall for the speed at which it spent stimulus funds, based on the dollars spent as a percentage of dollars available to states. The federal government estimates ARRA will create and save 148,000 jobs in Illinois over the next two years. As of July 2009, Illinois had created or sustained 15,388 jobs in infrastructure as a result of ARRA, more than any other state.
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