Some governors hopeful on stimulus

WASHINGTON - Governors who back the economic-stimulus package expressed optimism yesterday that the money would help them avoid cutting their budgets further and slow the growth of unemployment in their states.

As they gathered for their annual winter meeting, they downplayed threats by some Republican governors to decline the federal help.

Pennsylvania's Gov. Rendell, chairman of the National Governors Association, told reporters that the law, while not perfect, is a "tremendous help" to the states.

The Democrat noted that governors worked with the Obama administration to craft the bill.

He dismissed criticism that the package is a bailout for states, arguing that state budget deficits dwarf the amount of state aid in it.

"There's not a state in this union that is going to be able to use the stimulus money to wipe away all the problems, all the challenges we face," he said, noting that though Pennsylvania stood to gain $5 billion, the state recently had cut its budget by $1 billion.

Not all governors have embraced the package.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a likely 2012 presidential contender, has said he would reject a portion of the money aimed at expanding state unemployment insurance.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has said he may do so as well, as has South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee, has criticized the stimulus but traveled to Washington last month to press for her state's share of the money.

At issue for Jindal and Barbour is a provision that could allow people ineligible for unemployment benefits to get them anyway. That could force a tax increase on employers, both have said.

Some Democrats took a hard line in response. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley dismissed the detractors as "fringe" Republicans eager to score political points, the Associated Press reported.

But Rendell and others called the flap overblown.

"I really believe in the end, most governors across the political spectrum are going to look at individual components of the [package] and decide what makes sense for their individual states and do everything they can to put their residents back to work," said Vermont Gov. James Douglas, a Republican who has supported the stimulus.

Rendell noted that the package has the enthusiastic support of the Republican governors of two of the nation's largest states: California's Arnold Schwarzenegger and Florida's Charlie Crist.