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State Representative Joyce Peppin
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7806
For more information contact: Austin Bleess 651-296-5529
NEWS COLUMN
FEDERAL STIMULUS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR MINNESOTA?
By Joyce Peppin
State Representative
Assistant Minority Whip
During the past few weeks we’ve heard a lot of talk about the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (more commonly referred to as the economic stimulus package), yet most people know little about the details of the legislation and what it means to Minnesota.
Legislators have recently learned that Minnesota is expected to receive about $4.6 billion of one- time money. Approximately $2.8 billion can be applied to our state’s $5-7 billion budget deficit, primarily in education stabilization and Medicaid. Most of that appropriation must be matched by the state or it will be forfeited. The rest of the money will be used for so-called stimulus projects that are designed to create jobs and jumpstart the economy – at least for the short term.
Some of the state’s allocation includes $35 million for drinking water, $36 million for clean water, $16 million for immunization, $8 million for adoption assistance, $26 million for child care and $23 million for homelessness prevention. None of these projects can legitimately be called job creation stimulus, but there is no doubt the money will be spent.
More than $500 million of the stimulus package allocated to Minnesota will be spent on several “shovel-ready” transportation projects around the state. The final list of projects is still being completed, but expansion of Highway 610 is on the list. While this is great news, the proposal will not complete the project, but will complete the portion from Highway 169 to Fernbrook Avenue. The project is estimated to create over 2,200 jobs. Total job creation from all transportation projects is estimated to be close to 12,800.
There is also an allocation of more than $300 million for weatherization and other energy efficient projects for which Minnesota has oversight authority. I am pleased that we are discussing principles for the use of these funds which include how money should be spent statewide, the tracking of expenditures, the amount of energy savings captured, the number of jobs created, and the wages of those hired as a result of the federal funding. While these energy project may create jobs, it is doubtful they will be long-term.
While the stimulus dollars can be put in the general fund to help solve the budget deficit for the short term, the money will do little to solve our long-term budgeting problems and should not be used to fund ongoing budget appropriations. That is how we ended up with a huge budget deficit in the first place.
Unless we make real government reform, live within our means and use zero-based budgeting to separate wants from needs, our problems will continue and the state will face budget deficits year after year.
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