What governors are saying about the stimulus

Thanks to statehouse reporters across the nation, The Morning Call's John Micek in Pennsylvania provides a quick list of governors who are backing the federal stimulus package.

Gov. Pat Quinn is among numerous governors who wrote to President Barack Obama to support his plan. John also complied more state-specific data. Here's his post, including other journalists' descriptions about their governors' level of support:

On Monday, a bunch of governors (of both parties) wrote to President Barack Obama to express their support for the Stim and to urge its passage. As expected, their ranks includes Gov. Ed. Other signatories were:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California
Gov. Bill Ritter, Colorado
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut
Gov. Jack Markell, Delaware
Gov. Charlie Crist, Florida
Gov. Patrick Quinn, Illinois
Gov. Chester Culver, Iowa
Gov. DeVal Patrick, Massachussetts
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Michigan
Gov. Jon Corzine, New Jersey
Gov. David Paterson, New York
Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio
Gov. Brad Henry, Oklahoma
Gov. Thedore Kulongski, Oregon
Gov. Jim Douglas, Vermont
Gov. Tim Kaine, Virginia
Gov. John deJongh, U.S. Virgin Islands


Meanwhile ... here's some more state-specific data.

ARKANSAS:
Gov. Mike Beebe (D) seems excited about the money, especially stuff he could spend on roads

FLORIDA:
Gov. Charlie Crist is in the vanguard of Republicans who have been actively lobbying on behalf of the Stim by doing national television interviews.

KANSAS:
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) came up with a task force to figure out how to spend whatever money they get

LOUISIANA:
Gov. Bobby Jindal is opposed, but will use the $2.5 billion over two years to help offset budget cuts.

KENTUCKY:
Gov. Steve Beshear (D) seems pretty supportive

MARYLAND:
Gov. Martin O'Malley pulled back a budget with somewhere around $2 billion in cuts and Rainy Day Fund transfers in expectation of stimulus cash. Not clear if he's put it back yet in w/a supplemental correcting for stimulus dollars ...

MINNESOTA:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his amazing hair are against the stimulus, and say reckless spending will drive up the deficit. But yeah, he's put a placeholder in his state budget for the expected cash.

MONTANA:
Gov. Brian Schweitzer is trying to figure out how to spend the money.

NEVADA:
Gov. Jim Gibbons (R), facing a bear of a budget shortfall, sent a letter saying the $1.3 billion from the feds would help.

NORTH CAROLINA:
Gov. Bev Perdue is supposed to be at the House Democratic Caucus today promoting the Stim. From a press release: "Governor Perdue will urge congressional members to move quickly on a stimulus package that funds infrastructure and other economic development projects and that will put North Carolinians back to work as soon as possible."

OHIO:
Gov. Ted Strickland is counting on $3.4 billion to balance his upcoming budget.

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Gov. Mike Rounds doesn't want the Legislature to depend on the money to pass its budget.

TENNESSEE:
Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) is counting on the money in his budget, or it looks like he will

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS:
Gov. John deJongh Jr. is on Capitol Hill lobbying for it today (Friday).

UTAH:
Gov. Jon M. Huntsman (R) hedges a bit: "While we're not reliant on a federal bailout in order to balance our books, this could be considered a type of stimulus that we could benefit from."

VIRGINIA:
Gov. Tim Kaine ... total Kool-Aid drinker. He's DNC chairman. What's he gonna do? Say no? Also, his state is $3 billion the hole, and lawmakers are supposed to adjourn on Feb. 28.

WEST VIRGINIA:
Gov. Joe Manchin says "this country wasn't built on handouts. We didn't become leader of the free world by waiting on someone to give us a handout."
Nonetheless, Manchin's hand is extended, he submitted a list of scores of stimulus-qualifying, infrastructure-type projects totaling nearly $2.3 billion to the new administration.

WISCONSIN:
Gov. Jim Doyle (D) put off releasing his budget until he knows what’s in the stimulus