Governors favoring infrastructure spending leave White House empty-handed

WASHINGTON — Governors pushing for federal money to repair roads, water systems and bridges didn’t get the response they wanted from the White House on Monday. Even their own ranks are divided over infrastructure spending.

Governors raised the issue during a meeting with President Bush. "It’s the best type of stimulus, even better than what was in the first package,” Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, said as he left the White House.

Bush this month signed an economic stimulus package to send $300 to $1,200 rebate checks to millions of Americans and to offer tax incentives to businesses. He opposed including infrastructure projects because "it’s not really a stimulative way to get the economy going,” White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday.

Bush also said he opposes anything that could raise taxes. Perino said the president has concerns about "earmarks,” the nickname for lawmakers’ pet projects, in transportation funding. Highway bills "are filled with earmarks, which takes away from governors being able to make decisions as to where they want to spend that money,” she said.

Not all governors emerging from the White House meeting favor a second stimulus package or one focused on public works. Democrats generally seemed supportive, Republicans skeptical.

"To be talking about another stimulus package that is focused on spending, rather than tax breaks to help spur the economy, I think is very premature,” said Republican Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

National Governors Association Chairman Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota, didn’t rule out public works projects, but he questioned their short-term value.

"In terms of an immediate boost, there’s a lag time between when those things get approved and we actually get dirt moving,” Pawlenty said.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick downplayed disagreements between governors over public works spending.

"There is broad bipartisan support for the idea of more robust federal participation in these ready-to-go infrastructure projects, whether we call it a stimulus bill or not,” said Patrick, a Democrat.

Patrick is part of a group of governors from both parties pushing federal investment in public works, regardless of the form it takes. Democrat Eliot Spitzer of New York and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger of California are among the governors demanding federal action.

These governors on Sunday announced their support for the Building America’s Future coalition, a public works advocacy group that includes New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The group estimates the country’s infrastructure needs exceed $1 trillion.

Through a weekend of meetings in Washington, governors discussing infrastructure frequently cited last August’s collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which killed 13 people and injured 145.

"In order for us to be able to avoid a Minnesota situation across America, we need a dramatic infusion of federal dollars throughout this country to rebuild our basic infrastructure,” Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington said Monday.

At a private meeting Sunday, governors authorized staff members of the National Governors Association to begin listing positions the group could take on a second stimulus package.

Meeting at their annual winter meeting, governors also:

—Asked the federal government for more help creating new, more secure driver’s licenses required by post-Sept. 11 rules.

—Called for a continued moratorium on proposed changes to Medicaid regulations the states say could cost them billions of dollars.

—Wrote Congress asking lawmakers to continue a series of clean energy tax credits expiring this session.

Last month, governors asked congressional leaders debating the initial stimulus package to freeze planned reductions to Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for poor families and children. They also asked for $6 billion in a flexible block grant to be used as states saw fit.

Pawlenty said Sunday that governors never got a response.

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Associated Press writer Ben Feller contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org