UNDATED (AP) _ A big boost is coming to an obscure federal program weatherizes homes to make them more energy-efficient.
It’s distributing $4.7 billion in stimulus funds, dwarfing the $447 million originally planned by Congress this year and the $227 million spent in 2008. That’s enough to weatherize 1 million homes, instead of the 140,000 normally done each year.
But some worry states won’t be able to keep track of the money. Leslie Paige of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste says the program is prey to fraud because of how oversight is divided. The federal government passes the money to states, then states pass it to community action agencies, and the agencies pass it to contractors who work with customers.
In Texas, the state’s share is increasing nearly 60 times, from $5.6 million to $327 million. To spend the money efficiently and on time, state officials decided to go beyond the community organizations that normally distribute it and route $100 million to large cities.