DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 8:16 a.m. February 23, 2009
Perdue: Ga. might turn down some stimulus funds
Governor says his office is still reviewing the plans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, February 22, 2009
WASHINGTON — Georgia may end up turning down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal economic stimulus money because it might not be in the state’s long-term interest to accept it, Gov. Sonny Perdue said Sunday.
Perdue said his office is still reviewing the funding requirements behind the billions of dollars in federal aid Georgia is expected to get out of the plan.
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“Some of it is very helpful, and some of it we’re still analyzing,” Perdue said in an interview at the National Governors Association meeting here. “We’re going to be doing due diligence on each one of these components and deciding what’s in the best long-term interest of Georgians.”
Perdue’s remarks came as his fellow Southern Republican governors are creating a stir by saying they won’t accept some economic stimulus funds either out of principle or because it might hurt their states in the long term.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, for instance, has said he probably won’t take some of the $2.8 billion headed to his state in part because the excessive borrowing needed to pay for it might hurt the country and South Carolina in the long term.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Friday announced he will reject as much as $33 million in federal stimulus dollars to expand unemployment insurance because the state would have to increase unemployment taxes on businesses after the money runs out in three years.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a longtime Republican Party leader, also has said he will reject unemployment funds.
Perdue said Sunday he has similar concerns regarding Georgia’s unemployment insurance.
“It’s not a matter of turning [the money] down, but some of could cost more to use it than you would get,” Perdue said.
Georgia is expected to get about $220 million in federal aid to bolster its unemployment insurance program. But like Jindal and Barbour, Perdue said he’s worried that accepting that money could force the state to change its unemployment laws — and ultimately force the state to raise unemployment taxes to pay for it.
If “we have to change our laws and regulations in order to comply with federal mandates… getting this money may not be worth it,” Perdue said.
Other parts of the stimulus plan are much more attractive, Perdue said.
In particular, he said, the $1.7 billion the state is expected to get over the next three years to help pay for Medicaid spending will help Georgia greatly as it struggles with a budget deficit estimated at $2.2 billion or more.
In all, Georgia is expected to get $6 billion from the economic stimulus package. One research group, the Center for American Progress, has estimated the sum ultimately could total $15.9 billion.
The Medicaid matching money is one of the biggest portions of Georgia’s take.
Another $1.14 billion is expected for fixing roads, bridges and other infrastructure; about $980 million, for weatherizing and energy improvements in public buildings; and more than $750 million, for schools and special education.
Monday, the governors and their staffs are expected to receive better direction directly from President Barack Obama and top cabinet officials on how the federal aid can and can’t be used.
In the meantime, whether to accept all or part of the money from the $787 billion federal economic stimulus program has become the focus of attention at the winter meetings of the National Governors Association. Perdue is a member of the group’s executive committee.
Many GOP governors are caught in a philosophical bind over accepting the money after they and their fellow Republicans in Congress denounced the plan as being too expensive and not containing enough tax cuts for businesses and individuals. No Republican U.S. House member voted for the stimulus program, though three GOP senators did.
Georgia state Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee charged with writing the state budget, said in a phone interview Sunday night that he supports the governor’s caution.
“We need to make sure there are no strings attached,” Harbin said. “In the past, the federal government has been famous for enforcing new mandates tied to funding and then not delivering the funds. We don’t want to see this costing us in the long run.”
At least one Georgia Democrat was willing to consider Perdue’s concerns.
“I think his is a perfectly reasonable position to take,” said state Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna), who supports Obama’s move to push states to revamp unemployment insurance laws. “I haven’t heard him overtly criticize the package as a whole, like some of his fellow governors have.”
“I’d expect any governor to ask if there’s any strings attached,” Teilhet said.
But House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) said Perdue’s comments reflect partisan peer pressure.
“The money has already been allotted, and it’s going to go somewhere,” said Porter, a probable candidate for governor in 2010. “Georgians need that money as much as anyone else, and they’ll have to pay it back, just like everyone else. To turn it down just because you don’t agree with it is very short-sighted, and it would hurt a lot of Georgians.”
Some governors — both Republicans and Democrats — have said they’d gladly accept the funding that other states reject.
Others, such as Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, downplayed the controversy, saying states should be able to do whatever they want.
“Everybody has different point of view … and that’s fine,” Crist said. “But in my state, we need the money. We need the help.”
— Staff reporter Christian Boone in Atlanta contributed to this story.
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