Otter issues his stimulus recommendations

Gov. Butch Otter has released his recommendations for spending $1.24 billion in federal economic stimulus funds, including: $408,770,000 for health and welfare programs; $260,468,980 for public schools; $36,078,300 for higher education; $159,978,000 for unemployment benefits and workforce development; $61,894,000 for environmental quality projects; $200,334,100 for transportation; $15,268,000 for public housing, low-income housing and homelessness prevention; and $97,270,700 for other state government programs.

“I want to thank the members of my Executive Stimulus Committee who assessed this complicated  federal law and what opportunities it presents for our state – as well as all the associated costs and what strings are attached,” Otter said. “They did a great job of providing me with insightful and meaningful analysis. These decisions are difficult, and I took them very seriously. We don’t get any do-overs here, so I’m grateful to the folks on the committee and the Division of Financial Management staff for making this process manageable.” You can see Otter’s full recommendations here . Otter said his budget director, Wayne Hammon, will present the recommendations to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee in the morning.