House Passes Stimulus Spending Request

(Juneau) - The Alaska State House today passed legislation taking full advantage of federal economic stimulus funding to help Alaska students, homeowners, job seekers and communities statewide.

After an extensive review and hours of public hearings, the House could not find any significant strings attached to the money -- other than that we carefully account for how we spend it and what we accomplish with it.
~ Rep. Mike Hawker

House Bill (HB) 199 passed unanimously.

The legislation appropriates more than $170 million for school districts and educational programs; $56 million for energy-efficiency and home weatherization programs; more than $17 million for job training, vocational rehabilitation assistance and improvements to the state's unemployment services; $7 million for public safety programs; and almost $21 million in additional revenue sharing to Alaska municipalities.

Governor Sarah Palin has not yet announced her decision whether to accept the federal aid.

"The federal economic stimulus package can do a lot of good for Alaskans without growing government," said House Finance Co-Chair Mike Hawker of Anchorage. "If we fail to accept these funds, they will largely be re-allocated to other states.

"After an extensive review and hours of public hearings, the House could not find any significant strings attached to the money -- other than that we carefully account for how we spend it and what we accomplish with it," Hawker said. "The strict accounting and reporting requirements of the federal aid are good things, not reasons to walk away from putting this money into Alaska's economy."

HB 199 now moves to the Alaska State Senate for consideration.