Gov. Ed Rendell: Highly Unlikely GOP Governors Will Reject Cash

While there are some GOP governors talking about rejecting the stimulus money, the leader of the National Governors Association said that rejecting it is unlikely to happen.

The passing of the hefty economic stimulus package was United States President Barack Obama’s first major domestic challenge. It has also put Obama at odds against many Republicans in both houses of the US Congress. The economic stimulus bill passed through the US Senate. On Tuesday, February 17, Obama signed it into effect. While Obama clashed with House and Senate Republicans at the beginning, most of the GOP Governors supported the economic stimulus. Now, they may have done a 180 degree turn and started talking about rejecting the stimulus money. However, two GOP Governors have stood their ground and said that they support the stimulus and will accept the money. GOP Governors Charlie Crist of Florida and Arnold Schwarzenegger of California said they will accept the money. It has put Crist on the hot seat with many Republicans. Despite the Republican anger, not much they can do against Crist. Crist’s popularity in Florida remains high amongst Republicans and Democrats. GOP Governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Sarah Palin of Alaska, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Rick Perry of Texas talked about the possibility of rejecting the stimulus money given. Schwarzenegger said that if they reject the funds, he will happily take their share. Jindal said that he will not accept the stimulus money. The GOP governors will be at the White House for a dinner on Sunday night. They will have a policy briefing with Obama and VP Joe Biden. Overall, the stimulus bill may have caused internal tensions within the GOP. Democratic Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania addressed the issue at the National Governor’s Association meeting today. Rendell is the current chair of the NGA. He said that it is unlikely that the governors will reject the funds. “In the end … most of the governors will accept most of the money and use it for the benefit of their citizens,” Rendell said. Still it is unknown whether they will accept or reject the stimulus money. Should rejection be the case, there is the economic recovery law. If the governors say “No,” the state legislatures can override it. One question would be asked: Is Rendell right? Will they accept the money at the end?