Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson is pushing the powerful Senate budget chief to expedite use of the state’s economic stimulus money.

Lawmakers can spend some of Florida’s share of the package – aimed at helping cash-strapped states and creating jobs – by passing a special budget amendment or having a legislative committee approve it.

That would be much quicker, Lawson argued in a letter to Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, sent this morning.

The money includes $1.4 billion for road projects that transportation officials say could create or save about 30,000 jobs. But when the shovels meet the dirt is unknown, The Palm Beach Post reported in a web story this weekend.

Passing a spending bill will allow lawmakers to amend the package of road projects and introduce a potential political battle that could slow down the process, Lawson argued.

“You and I are far too familiar with the political posturing and machinations that can occur when billions of dollars are at stake and individual lawmakers are deciding where that money is to go,” Lawson, D-Tallahassee, wrote. “I fear for the little guy when the big guys are calling the shots.”

Lawson also criticized Gov. Charlie Crist’s failure to post a recovery website informing Floridians about how its share of the $12.4 billion economic recovery package will be spent and where. Twenty-six other states, including Georgia and Alabama, have their websites up and running as required by the federal law.

“How are potential job seekers or potential job bidders supposed to know what’s available without the transparency the governor once promised?” Lawson wanted to know.

Tags: Charlie Crist, Democrats, state agencies, state budget, State Senate, stimulus

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 9:24 am and is filed under Charlie Crist, legislature, state budget, State Senate, stimulus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.