The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (also referred to as the Recovery Act) was a large omnibus bill providing over $747 billion in supplemental appropriations for the 2009 fiscal year and spending to aid families and small businesses following the Great Recession.
The ARRA targeted spending in a few main areas including:
- $260 billion in multiple tax cuts, tax credits, and unemployment benefits to provide relief for families
- roughly 20% increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- infrastructure projects to create jobs and reduce unemployment
- repairing and building public housing
- clean energy production
- subsidizing healthcare for the unemployed and modernizing healthcare
- broad educational funding within schools and college grants
- broadband infrastructure targeting rural areas
- small businesses investment to spark new jobs
- state fiscal stabilization
[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]