WASHINGTON – Governors emerged from a meeting Monday with President Barack Obama pledging to make wise use of the $787 billion stimulus funds coming their way, and to deal with their own problems without waiting for further help. The first $15 billion of that will be released Wednesday to help states with their Medicaid programs.

The president, convening a fiscal stability summit on the concluding day of the National Governors Association winter meeting, also released further details of his plan to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, something he said is required in order to avoid a subsequent crisis.

Obama, who announced Vice President Joe Biden will oversee implementation of the stimulus funds, said the Medicaid money “is not a blank check. This money is intended to go directly to help struggling Americans keep their health care coverage.”

Officials with the Department of Community Health estimated that the release means the state will receive at least $464 million. The estimates were based on figures from the federal Government Accountability Office.

Over the next 27 months, the state anticipates receiving a total of $2 billion in Medicaid money, which includes the $464 million, expected this week.

Governor Jennifer Granholm welcomed the quick action. “The sooner the better is what we keep saying,” she said on a mid-day appearance on MSNBC. “As soon as we are able to get these funds, the sooner we’ll be able to deploy them in a reasonable, rational manner.”

The governor told reporters on Sunday she has been impressed with the speed with which the Obama administration is working on getting the federal aid moving.

“They are totally focused on transparency and accountability,” she said.

Ohio’s website to track the use of the stimulus funds was singled out along with a handful of others by Obama, who urged all states to follow suit so voters can be assured the entire stimulus money is being used effectively.

Governor Ted Strickland said the main message of the meeting was to cooperate in order to get people back to work and the economy rejuvenated.

As for Ohio’s process of reviewing plans for using the stimulus funds, he said meetings are held frequently with leaders of both parties. “It has been very bipartisan. We just want to do it right,” he said.

Granholm and other governors said the discussion with the president about the stimulus, health care, housing and the economy were frank, and noted Obama acknowledged genuine differences about implementing the aid. But the president also expressed doubt that governors are engaging in an honest discussion by dwelling too much on more unemployment benefits which some Republicans are refusing because of the strings attached and the higher benefits that would have to be addressed when the federal funds expire.

“I think there are some very legitimate concerns on the part of some about the sustainability of expanding unemployment insurance. What hasn’t been noted is that that is $7 billion of a $787 billion program. And it’s not even the majority of the expansion of unemployment insurance,” Obama said. “If we agree on 90 percent of this stuff, and we’re spending all our time on television arguing about 1, 2, 3 percent of the spending in this thing, and somehow it’s being characterized in broad brush as wasteful spending, that starts sounding more like politics. And that’s what right now we don’t have time to do.”

While saying the governors’ meeting with the president was positive overall, Strickland remained critical of those objecting to the unemployment aid because it would establish an obligation they cannot afford to continue. Some of the funds would increase benefits and others would go to part-time workers who’ve lost their jobs.

“No one has to take the money, but people are hurting,” Strickland said. “What’s the big deal? We should use the resources to help people who need it now.”

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, one of the Republicans who announced their intention to refuse part of the money, stressed his disagreement is over a small part of what the state is to get and blamed the media for over blowing the dispute.

“The president was very generous and that acknowledges the practical policy concerns some of us have,” he said. “The unemployment boost would require us to raise taxes in two years and I am not going to raise taxes on our businesses.”

Still, Barbour did express his appreciation for the stabilization aid the measure does provide to the states. And he said the president’s main concern – to keep the focus on the overall goal – is a good one. “Most things in there, there will not be any significant disagreement about,” he said.

NGA Chair Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, said all the governors agree that they have an obligation to spend the money effectively, wisely and efficiently. “The American people are looking for a sign of hope and that will happen when the stimulus begins to roll out,” he said.

Rendell, who would have preferred more funds in the stimulus bill for infrastructure, said it is too early to tell whether a second one will be needed down the road, especially given state deficit problems across the country. But he said he and other governors understand that is their own responsibility without having to look again to Washington.

“Let’s see how this works first,” he said.

Opening the fiscal responsibility summit, Obama said he is embarking on both a short-term strategy that does mean adding to the deficit and a long-term strategy to halve it in four years.

“These are extraordinary measures and they will come at a cost,” he said. “I also want to make clear. We cannot and will not sustain deficits like this without end. That means taking responsibility now and getting spending under control.”

In addition to including in the budget items which have been left out previously, such as war costs and disaster aid, Obama said he and his cabinet will be going through the budget “line by line to root out waste and inefficiency.”

Some governors are skeptical of the administration accomplishing the deficit-reduction goal in light of the long-term turnaround expected from the economy and rising health care costs. And, Obama did call the health care issue the single most important challenge in solving long-term fiscal responsibility.

Granholm expressed confidence that the shifts in spending priorities that the deficit reduction plan will mean will not hurt Michigan. “He’s got to do what he’s got to do,” she said. “I am confident that his values and priorities are aligned with ours.”

Strickland expressed similar confidence as “a governor who is willing to make tough decisions” to deal with his own state’s budget problems. “I am a governor who has avoided raising taxes in Ohio. I will use our resources to manage things in wise ways,” he said.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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