Impact of Antirecession Assistance on 16 County Governments

The Public Works Employment Act of 1976 established a program to provide State and local governments with antirecession assistance payments. It was designed as a means for strengthening the Federal Government's ability to stabilize the national economy by promoting greater coordination, during times of economic downturn, between national economic policy and budgetary actions of State and local governments. Initially Congress authorized $1.25 billion to be paid State and local governments for the five quarters ending September 30, 1977, and then renewed the program for an additional year. As of April 7, 1977, $1.18 billion was paid to recipient governments.