Governor David Paterson was in Washington D.C. yesterday, along with other governors meeting with President Obama to discuss what the states will get from the federal stimulus package. NY State got $24.6 billion of the $787 billion package, and Paterson announced the first projects that will benefit—eleven upstate roads projects, like "Replacement of the I-86 Bridge over Rte. 415 in the Town of Erwin, Steuben County" and "Culvert repairs in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties," which are "shovel-ready."
Paterson also announced the creation of a website to track how the state spends the money: economicrecovery.ny.gov, which has a greeting letter from Paterson pointing out, "We still have to address a $13 billion deficit next year and a multi-year deficit of over $48 billion." However, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) argues state agencies have too much power in deciding which projects go forward while localities don't, "These secretive, Soviet-style bureaucracies are emerging as the decision makers that affect communities across the state. We're trying to reform them, but in the interim, you have people unknown to the general public making decisions as to what communities should benefit and what communities should not."
About $4 billion of NY State stimulus money is for highway, bridge, and mass transit projects. And Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand sent a letter to President Obama welcoming any refused stimulus money, "New York receives 78 cents from the federal government for every dollar we send to Washington. If other states are willingly refusing federal support in this time of economic crisis, New York should benefit given our 'donor state' status."
