12.2 billion reasons why Charlie Crist loves the economic stimulus plan
February 16, 2009 at 1:21 pm by Wayne GarciaThere is still a lot we don’t know about how Florida will fare in the Obama stimulus plan, embraced with leg-humping enthusiasm by Gov. Charlie Crist last week in Fort Myers.
For instance, it is not clear whether a provision in the legislation that keeps school money from state’s that didn’t show a “maintenance of effort” in keeping their state education budgets relatively stable over the past few years will cost Florida $3.6 billion. The state isn’t sure if it met the test or could get a waiver from the provision.
The latest estimates in Tallahassee, however, show just why Crist has been so supportive of the stimulus plan, at risk to his standing in the Republican Party:
Florida apparently could receive as much as $12.2b over three fiscal years under the plan. That’s up from $11.4b on Thursday and the $11.3b number Crist’s Washington office estimated Friday.
That information came from a spreadsheet passed out to Crist and his agency chiefs from Crist’s budget office. When Crist was asked how much of the current-year deficit ($500m?) could be closed by the stimulus money, Crist said “A lot.” He then walked off.
Read the full Miami Herald blog post here.
