On January 27, 2009 the US Senate Committee on Appropriations met and approved the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan:
Washington, DC – The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved its portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, preparing the legislation for action by the full Senate.
The committee broke down the plan and explained where specific money will be allocated. How will the affect jobs in the Tech Marketplace? With all the plans for innovation and creation Barack Obama will be relying heavily 
on the Technology Sector to make most of these changes possible. I have broken down the plan and highlighted some of the improvements that will affect the tech industry. To read the full plan view The Senate Appropriations Report.
Infrastructure Improvements:
- School Modernization: $16 billion to repair, renovate and construct public schools in ways that will raise energy efficiency and provide greater access to information technology, and $3.5 billion to improve higher education facilities.
- Broadband: A total of $9 billion for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. This competitive grant funding will increase broadband access and usage in unserved and underserved areas of the Nation, which will better position the U.S. for economic growth, innovation, and job creation. Fifty percent of the funds are to be used for projects in rural areas.
- $5.1 billion for the Department of Homeland Security to secure the homeland and promote economic activity, including:
- $1.2 billion to accelerate procurement and installation of baggage screening and checkpoint security equipment at airports across the country. These funds will also allow TSA to purchase new checkpoint technologies necessary to improve its explosive detection capabilities and respond to newly identified threats.
Science:
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Research: $1.4 billion total for NSF including: $1 billion to help America compete globally; $350 million for scientific infrastructure; and $50 million for competitive grants to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): $575 million total for NIST including: $357 million for renovation of NIST facilities and new laboratories using green technologies; $218 million for scientific and technical research at NIST to strengthen the agency’s IT infrastructure; provide additional NIST research fellowships; provide substantial funding for advanced research and measurement equipment and supplies; increase external grants for NIST-related research.
- The Department of Energy’s Science program sees $430 million for laboratory infrastructure, for construction, and for advanced computing development.
Energy:
- A total of $2 billion is provided in grant funding for the manufacturing of advanced batteries systems and components and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States, including advanced lithium ion batteries, hybrid electrical systems, component manufacturers, and software designers.
- An additional $2.6 billion is for energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration and deployment activities to accelerate the development of technologies that will diversify the Nation’s energy portfolio and contribute to a reliable, domestic energy supply. Biofuels, geothermal, water, wind, solar, and efficiency projects will be deployed to demonstrate and improve our use of renewable energy.
- With this recognition the bill includes $4.5 billion for smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid, enhance security and reliability, perform energy storage research, development, demonstration and deployment, and provide worker training. A smart-grid will help create greater energy efficiency, reliability, and security.
Schools and Health Care:
- $1.6 billion is provided for grants to make schools and hospitals, significant users of energy, more energy efficient.
- Health Information Technology: $5 billion to jumpstart efforts to computerize health records to cut costs and reduce medical errors.
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