Congress to governors: Use it or lose it
A devilishly clever last-minute insert to the House version of the stimulus bill has made it through the conference report -- a requirement that governors spend their stimulus allocations within 45 days.The provision isn't likely to have a real-world impact, but it
forces Republican governors who opposed the stimulus (e.g. South Carolina's Mark Sanford) and many other GOP governors who sat on the fence for fear of bucking their party -- to publicly accept or decline the aid.
And when they do accept it -- and it's hard to see a scenario where they wouldn't given their deficits -- Democrats get to call them craven or hypocritical or both.In the unlikely event they do reject the money, authority for spending the cash would revert to State legislatures, who would likely be under even more political pressure to spend it than chief executives.
The genesis of the provision: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn's war with Sanford over the stimulus."Our governor has repeatedly expressed political and philosophical aversion to using federal assistance as we work our way out of the economic conditions that are visiting significant difficulties upon businesses and families throughout our beloved state," Clyburn said after the House vote.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0209/Congress_to_governors_Use_it_or_lose_it.html?showall
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