Golden State Money Plans Are Hush Hush

Billions of dollars are headed to California from the federal stimulus bill, but state officials will not say how they plan to spend the money.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office refused a request from The Associated Press under the California Public Records Act to list in detail the projects the administration says will benefit. On Friday, the administration told some state agencies and departments to refuse comment about where the money would go.

The stimulus bill is expected to send more than $26 billion to California, according to California congressional offices. That amount is nearly one-quarter of the state's general fund in any given year.

It includes $2.6 billion for highways, roads and bridges, $4.8 billion to repair school and university buildings, and $2 billion for state and local governments to buy foreclosed and vacant homes, according to the office Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The plan includes $10 billion for California Medicaid recipients, $10 billion to help the state's public schools and fund federal grants for college students, and $1 billion for mass transit.

Other highlights include $444 million for water projects, $324 million for affordable housing and $127 million for community construction projects.

California also can apply for a share of $8 billion for intercity and high-speed rail grants.

In a January letter to then President-elect Barack Obama, Schwarzenegger said California had $44 billion worth of "ready-to-start" construction projects and other investments.

The AP subsequently sent a formal request for the specific projects that allowed the administration to arrive at the $44 billion cost estimate. The governor's office rejected the AP's request in a Feb. 2 letter.

Daniel Maguire, the administration's deputy legal affairs secretary, said the documents were internal drafts, adding "disclosure would chill critical communications to and within the Governor's Office, thereby harming the public interest."

Schwarzenegger's letter to Obama said California was prepared to spend $11.8 billion for energy and energy-efficiency projects, $11 billion for roads, transit and rail construction, $4 billion for health care, $8.5 billion in water and sewer projects, $1.1 billion in education and more than $5 billion in airport, park and public-safety projects.

The governor's finance spokesman, H.D. Palmer, referred to the same list Friday as the template for how California would spend the stimulus money. Like other agency officials, he declined to offer specifics.

Schwarzenegger has said he does not want the federal stimulus money included in the budget proposal that lawmakers are considering this weekend, saying California should not rely on a federal bailout to solve its perpetual imbalance between spending and revenue.

Instead, the governor has said most of the money should be spent on neglected infrastructure projects.

Obama called for transparency in how the stimulus money is spent, but that is not what the Schwarzenegger administration is demonstrating, said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition.

"It's a bit of a game for them to say that the records are still works in progress or not final," Scheer said. "At some point, they became final enough to produce a precise set of numbers for the Obama administration."

For example, Scheer said there must be a list of airports linked to the $829.33 million of "shovel-ready" airport projects estimated by the governor's office.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Matt Rocco could not specify the priorities for spending the money.

"We're in a wait-and-see mode," he said. "We want to see what the final package looks like. I don't have a lot of answers for you."

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Camille Anderson said Friday that the governor's office still had no plans to release the detailed list the AP requested last month.

"The Senate hasn't passed the (stimulus) bill, the president has not signed it and states have not been formally informed how federal infrastructure investments would be disseminated or what project eligibility would include, so it's premature to discuss specific project funding at this time," she said.

Only a portion of the stimulus money would go to the state's hard-hit general fund, which pays for most of the state's day-to-day operations.

Much of it is destined for specific programs. That includes billions of dollars for unemployment and medical benefits, helping low-income families with their utility bills and aiding poor and disabled students.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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