Fresh off a grueling budget battle in his state, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Saturday that if fellow Republican governors threatening to turn down stimulus funds follow through on their pledge, he'd be happy to have their share.
"Everyone has their own way of thinking," Schwarzenegger said of those governors in an interview with POLITICO at the National Governors Association's annual meeting. "I just hope they give me their funding."
Schwarzenegger supports President Barack Obama's $778 billion stimulus, but four Republican governors have said they may reject some of the stimulus funds.
The governor said he was "feeling good" after several late night sessions with California lawmakers trying to pass the budget. "I think everyone had to stay up late a little bit, but we were able to make it work," he said.
Schwarzenegger signed California's $130 billion budget on Friday. To help make up for a massive shortfall, the budget reduces most of the state's expenditures by 11 percent. California state employees were also required to take days of unpaid leave from work.
Despite the cuts, Schwarzenegger said the state has not staved off further economic hardship. But the governor said he hopes the new budget will help California bridge the gap until the economy recovers.
"What we've done is create an economic stimulus package that addresses some of the main things, the economic crisis and some self inflicted wounds," he said. "We were not going to be able to motivate people to take these cuts without addressing some of these main things."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090221/pl_politico/19121