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Sunday, February 1, 2009
River of billions could change flow of power
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When it comes to the $819 billion economic stimulus package working its way through Congress, Georgia Republicans find themselves in an awkward position.
Their formal representatives in Washington, most particularly in the U.S. House, have washed their hands of such spending.
It is a matter of philosophy that Republican leaders in the state Capitol are obliged to follow, even as they acknowledge that the money President Obama intends to send Georgia’s way would ease a serious budget crisis.
One state away, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen declared the stimulus package would “substantially” mitigate his state’s need to wield the cleaver. As a Democrat, he is allowed to say such things.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is a Republican, and wants to replace Gov. Sonny Perdue after 2010. “There are no Santa Clauses for grown folks,” Cagle said. “The reality is, Georgia does not need to be dependent upon the federal government for filling our budget deficit.”
That said, if Cagle finds a few presents under his tree, he will not give them back, acknowledging the “huge bump” that could come from an increase in federal Medicaid spending.
Yet for Republicans in Georgia, the stimulus package represents more than a mild case of ideological dissonance. Obama’s river of billions could significantly enhance Democratic clout in the Capitol, and diminish that of our GOP governor.
This week, House Democrats intend to press Speaker Glenn Richardson to stretch out the current session of the Legislature out, to give federal stimulus dollars a chance to reach the state.
“We’re supposed to get with the Speaker and talk about slowing it down,” said House Minority Leader Dubose Porter of Dublin, another likely candidate for governor.
State Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, the House caucus chairman, is suggesting that Perdue call a bipartisan “summit” to determine where increased federal spending might overlap with holes in the state budget — and help avoid indirect property tax increases recommended by the governor, as well as fee increases for hospitals and health insurers.
Whether GOP leaders will entertain either invitation isn’t the point. Democrats are declaring that they have a better sense of where and when stimulus cash will flow.
In Washington, above any other Democrat from Georgia, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop has become the go-to guy — because of his ties to Obama and his seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
When the GOP-dominated state transportation board makes its visit to Washington next week, to see what goodies might be available, it will make a show of meeting with the entire Georgia congressional delegation.
But the sessions with Bishop — and Democratic colleagues Hank Johnson, John Lewis and David Scott — will be the ones that count.
Bishop is among those working hard to make sure that a large chunk of the stimulus money — perhaps as much as half — is kept out of the hands of certain Republican governors.
Democrats like Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis want no middle-man.
“There was a concern. How do we make sure that the stimulus money gets to our constituents and is not peeled off by the governors of another party for their own agenda?” Bishop said. “We’re concerned that the distribution be done fairly and in places where there’s the greatest need.”
So local governments and school boards could have direct access to much of the federal money, at times competing with state governments.
Democrats in Washington have even dangled serious temptation in front of Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature, at Perdue’s expense.
Bishop said the stimulus version passed by the U.S. House has a provision that would permit state lawmakers to independently seek some of the federal largess, if a governor decides he doesn’t want what Santa Claus offers.
In Georgia’s case, that could weaken one of the governor’s crucial powers. Right now, he’s the only one who can determine how much money will flow into state coffers — and thus how much can be spent.
