Douglas County residents gain millions from ARRA.

Feb. 24--The one-year-old American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has pumped money into the economy and Douglas County families have benefited as the act provided more than $13 million in direct benefits, according to the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. Most of the public attention has focused on the spending that has directly created and protected jobs, such investments in infrastructure, but a large portion of the funding the recovery act is injecting into the economy goes straight to families and unemployed workers. Figures from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., shows five types of direct benefits provided by the …