Posted by Jonathan Adler:
White House Backs Sanford on Stimulus:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_29-2009_04_04.shtml#1238675351
Yesterday, the White House acknowledged that state governors, not
state legislatures, control the acceptance and disposition of stimulus
money. The AP [1]reports:
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has won a key victory in his fight
to control $700 million in federal stimulus money intended to help
the state's schools, with the White House acknowledging in a letter
released Wednesday that state legislatures can't overrule governors
who don't want the money.
White House budget chief Peter Orszag said there is no provision in
the stimulus law for state lawmakers to accept that money without
approval by the governor.
Sanford, a Republican, has said he may decline some of the state's
$2.8 billion in stimulus money because the White House won't let
him use the cash to pay down his state's debt, including bonds and
looming retirement system liabilities. South Carolina started the
fiscal year with $8.1 billion in total bonds outstanding, according
to the state's comptroller.
The White House remained critical of Sanford's position, disagreeing
with his decision to reject a portion of the stimulus funds allocated
for his state, but acknowledged his authority to reject the funds.
References
1.
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/04/white_house_says_governors_can.html
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
