Crist: Stimulus plan a boon to Florida

Governor Charlie Crist

By Jim Ash

Tallahassee – Gov. Charlie Crist, President Barack Obama’s favorite Republican cheerleader, said Monday the state can expect to rake in more than $12.2 billion over the next three years from the federal stimulus package just passed by Congress.

“It passed with great gratitude from Florida,” Crist said.

 It’s still not clear whether Florida will have to ask for special permission from the federal government to claim $3.6 billion in education dollars. A feature of the federal plan denies education money to states like Florida that have slashed their school budgets.

Crist urged Education Commissioner Eric Smith to call his counterpart at the U.S. Department of Education on Monday afternoon to press for answers. Crist this weekend applied for a waiver to the stimulus rules just in case.

Crist earned the wrath of fellow Republicans — all GOP members of Florida’s congressional delegation voted against the stimulus — by energetically pushing for the plan, including appearing with Obama last week at a town hall forum in Fort Myers.

At the same time he is asking Washington for forgiveness for reducing the education budget, he is preparing to roll out a massive wave of property tax-cut proposals for the 2010 ballot that could cut education funding further. Crist was not fazed by the paradox.

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Crist said.

While lawmakers are looking for ways to deal with a potentially $5 billion budget shortfall next year, it’s still not clear how much of the stimulus money can be used to meet Florida’s constitutional requirement to balance the budget.

“A lot,” Crist shouted to a reporter as he darted through a doorway.

Jerry McDaniel, Crist’s budget chief, said that the state will likely get the most relief from the $1.3 billion in new Medicaid money that is a feature of the plan this year. However, most of the other stimulus money, including $1.4 billion in transportation dollars, cannot be used to replace state spending.