$2 billion in ‘stimulus’ funds received by state government

COLUMBIA, SC – March 25, 2010 – So far more than $2 billion in federal stimulus money has been received by state government agencies, Comptroller Richard Eckstrom announced today.

$2.1 billion has been received as part of last year’s $787 billion federal stimulus package. Here’s a breakdown:

Employment Security Commission, $959,532,892
Dept. of Health and Human Services, $584,459,829
Dept. of Social Services, $156,736,187
Dept. of Education, $108,958,425
Dept. of Transportation, $105,504,170
Dept. of Public Safety, $38,438,223
Dept. of Commerce, $33,155,242
Governor’s Office, $26,418,561
Department of Corrections, $22,000,000
Budget and Control Board, $15,221,535
Housing Finance & Development Authority, $7,321,753
Dept. of Juvenile Justice, $5,000,000
Board for Technical & Comprehensive Education, $4,494,936
Judicial Department, $4,000,000
Dept. of Health and Environmental Control, $3,677,602
Dept. of Probation, Pardon and Parole, $2,000,000
State Library, $1,685,045
Vocational Rehabilitation, $1,462,459
Forestry Commission, $1,192,233
State Law Enforcement Division, $1,066,927
State Treasurer’s Office, $933,073
Lt. Governor’s Office, $885,741
Educational Television Commission, $540,000
Arts Commission, $500,000
Archives and History, $500,000
Wil Lou Gray Opportunity School, $500,000
School for the Deaf and the Blind, $500,000
Commission on Higher Education, $364,440
Dept. of Natural Resources, $260,089
Dept. of Agriculture, $250,000
Law Enforcement Training Council, $120,000
Public Service Commission, $64,109
Prosecution Coordination Commission, $64,016
Attorney General’s Office, $39,576
Office of Regulatory Staff, $24,000

Total: $2.087,871,063

Eckstrom today issued the following statement:

More than $2 billion in federal stimulus money has now passed through state government. At the same time, our state and national unemployment rates remain sky-high, and we learned earlier this month that state revenue is down a whopping quarter of a billion dollars compared to last February when Congress passed the stimulus and required us to take their borrowed money.

While we all wanted the stimulus to be successful, the continuing grim economic news shows that it simply didn’t work as advertised, and that more than a year later we seem to be far from the end of the road as far as economic conditions and state budget woes are concerned. The stimulus was flawed for many reasons, high among them the fact that it was designed more to expand the size and scope of government entitlement payments to shower benefits on favored constituents than it was to create private sector jobs where they’d do the most good for the economy.

Because Washington can’t seem to get its act together, the failure of the stimulus to create jobs and stimulate the economy underscores the need for state and local leaders to more boldly do their part to encourage job growth and economic expansion by lowering taxes and reducing bureaucratic regulation – actions that historically have proven to stimulate economic growth.

“Finally, it’s worth noting that the stimulus has created a ‘funding cliff,’ which occurs when one-time funds are used to add programs or to increase the size of existing programs.  Because the stimulus money runs out next year, we’ll soon face some tough choices about today’s artificially high spending.  We must decide whether to replace disappearing stimulus revenues with tax increases or dramatically scale back government programs to more reasonable and affordable levels. While neither of those choices are easy, the sooner we decide, the easier it will be.  We need to quit digging the hole any deeper.”