WV SLOW TO SPEND STIMILUS MONEY - One Billion On Hold?

(08/07/2010)
Most USA states have spent 64 percent of their federal stimulus funds, but West Virginia had spent only 43 percent, according to Federal Funds Information for States, a think tank in Washington.

More than a billion dollars is unspent.

Only Alaska and the District of Columbia had spent less, the report says.

Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha said, "The deadlines for spending that money are coming up."

Stimulus money must be spent by the end of 2010 or 2011, or the federal government can take it back and distribute it to other states.

State stimulus coordinator Danny Scalise said the FFIS data is outdated and out of context.

FFIS says more than $2.3 billion in stimulus dollars have been awarded to West Virginia since February 2009 and by early June, $1.3 billion was still unspent.

"How can anybody say if the stimulus is working, if we've spent less than half of the money?" Delegate Guthrie asked.

"Wasn't the point of this money to spend it quickly, to stimulate our economy?"

By early June, the Manchin administration had spent only 41 percent of the money under its direct control, the report said.

"Even if the [FFIS] numbers reflect that West Virginia has not spent a lot of our money...we didn't have the need" to spend rapidly, said Jim Pitrolo, Manchin administration policy director.

News accounts say state government has no control over about $1.3 billion in stimulus funds that went to county and local governments and nonprofit groups.

Guthrie said she would be satisfied with a county-by-county list of contracts by state agencies, saying it is a huge amount of unspent money.