Palin Urges Caution on Stimulus Bill Funding

Cross posted at The Next Right

Not creating private sector jobs, "alarming increase" in the national debt and state sustainability problems were some of the major red flags that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin pointed to in the recently passed federal stimulus package.

Believing a federal stimulus package was necessary, Palin supported a package that would have included:

- federal spending for infrastructure
- tax breaks for individuals and small businesses
- measures to address the housing collapse

Palin praised Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski’s critique of the current bill that noted a large portion of the stimulus package included spending that was neither timely, targeted at the private sector nor temporary.

Palin urged Alaska legislators and officials to be cautious about integrating stimulus funds into the state’s operating budget for projects that cannot be sustained by the state.

“We can’t start new spending obligations with federal dollars that at some point would have to be picked up by the state, especially when we’re already looking at a budget shortfall. It’s not fair to Alaskans to create expectations about programs that wouldn’t be sustainable, so we’ll need to look at the federal funding on a case-by-case basis.”