Governors to push Congress, Bush for more
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - American governors will pressure Congress and President George W. Bush to pass another economic stimulus bill that includes infrastructure spending, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday.
"We are gathering here for one reason in Washington and that is to ask the federal government, to inspire the federal government... or to actually force Washington to build our nation's infrastructure and take this subject seriously," said Schwarzenegger, a Republican and action movie star, at a press conference during the National Governors Association's annual meeting.
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, a Democrat, said he would like to see a new stimulus bill that provides $25 billion to $30 billion for improving the country's roads, waterways and bridges. The President earlier this month signed a law authorizing tax rebates to boost consumer spending and jumpstart the economy, but left out public projects.
The governors will meet with Congressional leaders and the President on Monday.
As the economy soured toward the end of 2007, state leaders suggested capital spending as a potential salve and as a way of preventing a bridge collapse like the one that killed 13 people in Minnesota in August.
Rendell and Schwarzenegger joined New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is unaffiliated with a political party, to create the "Build America's Future" coalition in January to demand more federal spending and promote public-private partnerships.
At the press conference, they that announced 12 other governors have joined the coalition, including New York Democrat Eliot Spitzer and Arizona Democrat Janet Napolitano.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, told the conference there are many building projects that have passed various regulatory checks and could start immediately, if only the federal government would provide matching funds.
But at an earlier meeting, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said if there were a second stimulus bill it would likely not fund such projects because they take too long to pump cash into the economy.
When Rendell was asked who would participate in future public-private partnerships -- where corporations operate public services such as roads on behalf of state and local governments -- he said there was room for foreign firms.
"It's a global economy," Rendell said, adding that in the partnerships states do not sell their assets, only lease them.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert)
