Federal Medicaid funding arrives Wednesday, Perdue says

WASHINGTON — Georgia should get access to its first economic stimulus funding — about $340 million for Medicaid health spending — on Wednesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue learned Monday in a meeting with President Obama and fellow governors.

“It will be very timely,” Perdue said of the money, part of $15 billion in Medicaid relief that the White House announced will flow to all 50 states beginning Wednesday as part of the economic stimulus program.

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Though Georgia isn’t facing an immediate cash-flow problem like some other states, Perdue said the availability of the money is key as the state looks for ways to address a $2.2 billion deficit.

“It’s important … [because] it enables us to use state dollars for other things,” Perdue said.

Perdue said he’ll begin meeting Wednesday with top state staffers to sort out how and where the $6 billion or so that Georgia is expected to get in federal economic stimulus money will go. His office plans to launch a Web site, stimulusaccountability.ga.gov, sometime early next week that will let Georgians see what federal money is coming to the state, where it’s going and to give their ideas on how it should be spent.

In his first White House meeting with President Obama, the Republican governor praised the new Democratic president for his candor and openness during the Monday morning meeting with members of the National Governors Association.

“It was a very candid, forthright discussion,” Perdue said in an interview outside the White House after the meeting. “I thought he was very amenable in understanding the differences in our states and [our] different challenges,” he said. “And I was very encouraged that we’ve got an administration that states like Georgia are going to be able to work with for the long-term benefit of not only our state but the United States of America.”

While Perdue welcomes the additional federal Medicaid funding, he reiterated Monday that he is still considering whether to accept other money that Georgia is expected to get through the $787 billion federal economic stimulus plan.

Of specific concern to Perdue and a growing number of other governors are the potential constraints that come with federal unemployment insurance money as part of the program. The estimated $220 million in federal unemployment aid would help the state in the short term. But it also might force the state to change its laws regarding unemployment insurance for part-time workers who lose their jobs. If that happens, the state might have to increase its unemployment taxes on businesses when the federal money runs out in a few years, Perdue said.

“For the most part, most of the money is usable and we’re going to use it for the benefit of Georgians,” he said. “But I want to be able to look my grandchildren in the eye 20 years from now and tell them what they got when they’re paying the bill.”

Perdue is one of a number of Southern Republican governors who are considering declining at least part of the federal unemployment insurance funds. Unlike some of his counterparts, though, Perdue says his argument is more about fiscal responsibility than partisan philosophies about government spending.

Monday, Obama directly addressed some of the concern over the unemployment insurance portion of the program, suggesting it was being overblown.

“I think there are some very legitimate concerns on the part of some about the sustainability of expanding unemployment insurance,” Obama told governors.

“What hasn’t been noted is that that is $7 billion of a $787 billion program,” he said. “And it’s not even the majority of the expansion of unemployment insurance.”