Republican governors, critical of President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, have said they won’t take part of the federal money allotted to their states because it will force them to raise taxes when federal dollars run out.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer, chairman of the National Governors Association, told Hotline that he would be happy to take any extra cash back to Montana:
Schweitzer stressed that only a few of the nation’s GOP governors are weighing whether to reject the money, and he suggested that, by and large, the members of the NGA are on the same page. “That is hardly even a majority of the Republican governors, let alone the entire Republican group,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect us all to agree. We come from very different places.”
But he said his state is more than happy to partake of other state stimulus money — should any Republican governor choose to leave it on the table.
“If they are redirected from states that reject them, Montana would be more than happy to receive them,” Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer isn’t the only one who wants any dollars left on the table. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, told POLITICO if his colleagues refuse money, “I just hope they give me their funding.”