Tennessee could reject a portion of the $787 billion economic stimulus package out of concerns that it would force the state to raise taxes on businesses in the future.
At the National Governors Association meetings in Washington, D.C., Gov. Phil Bredesen said this week that he might turn down relief for unemployed workers worth an estimated $143 million because of conditions placed on the money by Congress.
The stimulus package would also raise unemployment benefits by $25 a week for all workers, but in addition, lawmakers want states to expand the pool of people who can apply for benefits. That would put more pressure on an unemployment trust fund that is already trying to stave off insolvency.
"We are evaluating this piece of money, whether it makes sense for us to take it," Bredesen said in an interview Monday with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "We're in the position of going back to our legislature this year for changes in our tax structure just to keep our fund whole, and taking it to a new level may be too much of a lift for the legislature this spring."
Sen. Chuckie Schumer had a cow when several GOP governors stated they would not take certain funds because it would require state law changes that would have long term impacts on their states. He wrote a letter to the Budget Director demanding that states be forced to take all the funds or none of them.
I haven't heard him come out against Bredesen yet.
Schumer's demand was based on the shaky logic that because the Congress appropriated these funds the states had to take them and change their laws accordingly, thus making Congress the de facto heads of each state. That will never fly in the courts.
Those states that are not in dire straits should be free to accept or reject whatever portion of the porkulus monies they wish. No state should be forced to make permanent changes in their laws based on temporary funding.
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