Legislators hear stimulus call

WASHINGTON -- Governors, mayors and interest groups Wednesday came to Capitol Hill and pressed for tens of billions of dollars for new public works projects and help for cash-strapped states, among other ideas aimed at boosting the economy.

They found sympathetic ears at a pair of House hearings for plans to build roads and water and sewer projects, extend jobless benefits and help states cope with multibillion dollar budget shortfalls.

Democrats are eyeing an economic stimulus measure, either in a postelection session next month or as the first item of business next year.

They are focusing on the spending side of the federal ledger, unlike the tax rebate checks sent earlier this year, with a focus on generating new jobs.

"Every billion dollars in spending on infrastructure, on highway and transportation expenditures does result in 35,000 new jobs," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing.

Before another panel, New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat, pressed for billions to help close a projected $12.5 billion budget gap caused in part by the chaos on Wall Street. He said falling tax revenues will mean harmful cuts to health care, anti-poverty programs and other state services.

"The cruel irony is that at the time when citizens need their state governments the most, state governments are least equipped to help them because of plummeting revenues," Paterson said. "When states are hurting, our national economy suffers."

Two House members from Nevada who sit on the Ways and Means Committee returned to Washington for the hearing.

They described the state's economic despair, with its national lead in foreclosures and an unemployment rate that Rep. Shelley Berkley said was projected to surpass 8.5 percent by the end of the year.

But Berkley, a Democrat, and Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican, differed on prospects for Congress passing a second stimulus bill this year.

Berkley said she would support a stimulus bill that would include a further extension of unemployment benefits, an increase in Medicaid help to states and an infusion of dollars for road and bridge repairs and other infrastructure needs.

"There isn't anything that we are discussing that won't have a direct and beneficial impact on the people I represent," Berkley said.

As for size, she said a $150 billion package "would be a good start."

Porter said he supported elements of a stimulus package that has been proposed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It includes close to $90 billion in infrastructure funding for community development, renewable energy projects, highways and airports, and school modernization.

But Porter said the package should include provisions that cut waste, identifying duplicative federal programs and repealing mandates on cities and states that might be discouraging local growth.

"I am not opposed to looking at a stimulus, but the problem with the federal government is they keep writing a check and making promises," Porter said outside the hearing. "We need to find out where that money is going, is it being used properly and do we need a new stimulus program if it is not being used."

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat and former chairman of Goldman Sachs, called for a deficit-financed stimulus measure tagged at up to 2 percent of the size of the economy, about $300 billion, with an emphasis on infrastructure projects such as road construction, railway repairs and water and sewer projects.

"This time of adversity should be translated into a time of opportunity with respect to our infrastructure projects," Corzine told the transportation committee. "We should not lose the opportunity to invest in our future, our children, and our grandchildren's future."

But the immediate future of any stimulus measure is murky, given resistance from President Bush to the spending-focused approach favored by Democrats.

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report.