By Staff
By BILLY HOUSE and CATHERINE DOLINSKI.Media General News Service
By BILLY HOUSE and CATHERINE DOLINSKI.Media General News Service
Email to a Friend
Stumble It!
WASHINGTON Even as many details for Florida have yet to be announced, GOP Gov. Charlie Crist and Tampa Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor today applauded the $789 billion economic stimulus bill agreed upon by the U.S. House and Senate.
But Florida's Republicans in Congress, none of whom voted for either the earlier House or Senate versions of the bill, are not saying much at all. Several of their offices say they have been given too few details so far.
The House is expected to vote Friday, and the Senate afterward, on the final accord to carry out President Barack Obama's economic rescue plan. Rank and-and file members of both chambers this morning were given only an early draft of the massive 1,431-page bill, which has no state-specific numbers.
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's office did send out projections that nearly 206,000 jobs could be created or saved in Florida over the next two years, but those numbers had been put together by the White House prior to the House and Senate agreeing on details of a plan.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised Democratic House members her office will send out later today “fact sheets” that are now being prepared by the White House about what, exactly, the impact of the legislation will be on each state.
All told, state officials have projected that Florida could get at least $10 billion from the bill in various funding for transportation, health, state budget needs, school repair aid and other categories, though not all of that money would come this year.
“You know, what we were looking at just a few months ago was no stimulus at all. And so, if you compare where we were to where we are now, I'm very, very pleased for my fellow Floridians for that,” Crist said to reporters this morning in Tallahassee.
While Castor acknowledged that many of the specific details “are still rolling out” for her and her congressional colleagues, she said, “this is great news for Florida families, especially those in our hard-hit Tampa Bay area.”
Among the biggest boosts: Florida is expected to get $4.3 billion over two years in federal Medicaid matching funds.
“There are no earmarks in the bill. But this is the granddaddy of all earmarks for Florida,” gushed Castor.
Both she and Crist also downplayed what has loomed as one potential snag for Florida to qualify for another major education funding category that could drive well over $1 billion more to the state.
Under the House-Senate accord, as it still appears still in draft form, Florida does not technically qualify for a share of a $53.4 billion pot of money specifically designed for mostly education needs to help states like Florida facing huge budget deficits.
That's because a state is required to be funding K-12 and higher education at no less than 2006 levels. States that cannot meet the requirement would have to forfeit their share of the money for redistribution to other states.
Florida falls $600 million short of that requirement, at a time when the state has seen its biggest drop in public school enrollment in history, with more than 30,000 fewer students than there were in 2006. That remains the same.
“It looks like Florida would have to apply for a waiver from the education secretary,” said Ken Lundberg, a spokesman for Florida's GOP senator, Mel Martinez.
Crist said he is concerned about that. But he is optimistic.
“I'm concerned about everything … but I think we have a very good relationship with this new administration in Washington, and if a waiver might be necessary, I think we would be successful,” he said.
Castor also said she does not believe getting such a waiver will be a problem.
Specific details on how much Florida would receive under that broad category of funding to help states balance their budgets remain uncertain.
Florida would have received about $3.5 billion in that funding under the House plan, which set aside $79 billion for the category. The Senate's $838 billion bill would have set aside $39 billion to states, with Florida getting about $1.7 billion.
What Florida could end up with from this “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund” could, in the end, be closer to the lower amount the Senate bill could have yielded because some of the compromise bill's $53.4 billion actually replaces a $20 million category of funding sought by House Democrats and Obama for school repairs.
In addition, a fact sheet sent out by Pelosi shows the fund would now apparently give governors less flexibility in how to use the money, which is primarily made up of $40.6 billion to local schools districts to help prevent layoffs, schools modernization and other purposes.
These categories were blended because GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who were key to getting the package passed in the Senate, objected to creating a special category for school construction.
“The state will be able to control a little bit of this money, but it's largely driven down to school districts, said Castor of any of Florida's portion of that money.
Another $5 billion would go to states as “bonus grants” for meeting key performance measures in education; $8 billion would go to states for other “high-priority” needs such as public safety, which may include education, but not necessarily.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673.
But Florida's Republicans in Congress, none of whom voted for either the earlier House or Senate versions of the bill, are not saying much at all. Several of their offices say they have been given too few details so far.
The House is expected to vote Friday, and the Senate afterward, on the final accord to carry out President Barack Obama's economic rescue plan. Rank and-and file members of both chambers this morning were given only an early draft of the massive 1,431-page bill, which has no state-specific numbers.
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's office did send out projections that nearly 206,000 jobs could be created or saved in Florida over the next two years, but those numbers had been put together by the White House prior to the House and Senate agreeing on details of a plan.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised Democratic House members her office will send out later today “fact sheets” that are now being prepared by the White House about what, exactly, the impact of the legislation will be on each state.
All told, state officials have projected that Florida could get at least $10 billion from the bill in various funding for transportation, health, state budget needs, school repair aid and other categories, though not all of that money would come this year.
“You know, what we were looking at just a few months ago was no stimulus at all. And so, if you compare where we were to where we are now, I'm very, very pleased for my fellow Floridians for that,” Crist said to reporters this morning in Tallahassee.
While Castor acknowledged that many of the specific details “are still rolling out” for her and her congressional colleagues, she said, “this is great news for Florida families, especially those in our hard-hit Tampa Bay area.”
Among the biggest boosts: Florida is expected to get $4.3 billion over two years in federal Medicaid matching funds.
“There are no earmarks in the bill. But this is the granddaddy of all earmarks for Florida,” gushed Castor.
Both she and Crist also downplayed what has loomed as one potential snag for Florida to qualify for another major education funding category that could drive well over $1 billion more to the state.
Under the House-Senate accord, as it still appears still in draft form, Florida does not technically qualify for a share of a $53.4 billion pot of money specifically designed for mostly education needs to help states like Florida facing huge budget deficits.
That's because a state is required to be funding K-12 and higher education at no less than 2006 levels. States that cannot meet the requirement would have to forfeit their share of the money for redistribution to other states.
Florida falls $600 million short of that requirement, at a time when the state has seen its biggest drop in public school enrollment in history, with more than 30,000 fewer students than there were in 2006. That remains the same.
“It looks like Florida would have to apply for a waiver from the education secretary,” said Ken Lundberg, a spokesman for Florida's GOP senator, Mel Martinez.
Crist said he is concerned about that. But he is optimistic.
“I'm concerned about everything … but I think we have a very good relationship with this new administration in Washington, and if a waiver might be necessary, I think we would be successful,” he said.
Castor also said she does not believe getting such a waiver will be a problem.
Specific details on how much Florida would receive under that broad category of funding to help states balance their budgets remain uncertain.
Florida would have received about $3.5 billion in that funding under the House plan, which set aside $79 billion for the category. The Senate's $838 billion bill would have set aside $39 billion to states, with Florida getting about $1.7 billion.
What Florida could end up with from this “State Fiscal Stabilization Fund” could, in the end, be closer to the lower amount the Senate bill could have yielded because some of the compromise bill's $53.4 billion actually replaces a $20 million category of funding sought by House Democrats and Obama for school repairs.
In addition, a fact sheet sent out by Pelosi shows the fund would now apparently give governors less flexibility in how to use the money, which is primarily made up of $40.6 billion to local schools districts to help prevent layoffs, schools modernization and other purposes.
These categories were blended because GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who were key to getting the package passed in the Senate, objected to creating a special category for school construction.
“The state will be able to control a little bit of this money, but it's largely driven down to school districts, said Castor of any of Florida's portion of that money.
Another $5 billion would go to states as “bonus grants” for meeting key performance measures in education; $8 billion would go to states for other “high-priority” needs such as public safety, which may include education, but not necessarily.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673.