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      WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional Republicans say they want to cut
federal spending by raiding $45 billion from President Barack
Obama's politically unpopular economic stimulus program. But they
won't be able to get their hands on most of that money.


      At most, only about $7 billion of the $814 billion in economic
recovery money awarded under the 2009 federal law hasn't already
been spoken for, according to the latest White House estimates. And
Republican leaders now acknowledge they would be lucky to identify
as much as $5 billion in stimulus-related spending cuts as part of
a plan to save taxpayers $2.5 trillion over 10 years.


      It's not that all the stimulus money has been spent; it has been
committed for specific projects and programs. In the confusing
money flow from Washington to the rest of the country, there's
still about $168 billion in stimulus money that has not actually
been paid out, according to the administration. But it says nearly
all of that money already is tied up in contracts with companies,
obligations with states and local governments, promised taxpayer
relief and commitments to government programs.


      For states, much of that money for Medicaid and education has
been worked into budgets, so if Congress took it back it could
leave shortfalls, said Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the
National Governors Association. "That would be a serious problem,
I think, because they're depending on that money."


      The unspent money remains in the federal pipeline despite
Obama's promise that recovery spending would occur swiftly to
stimulate the nation's economy after Congress approved the program
nearly two years ago.


      Even the $7 billion the White House says is not yet obligated
can't readily be yanked back by Republicans as savings because,
administration officials said, planning is well under way for the
projects expected to benefit.


      "These remaining dollars include funding for major high-speed
rail, clean energy and other infrastructure projects that in many
cases have already been awarded and just haven't been formally put
under contract," said Liz Oxhorn, the White House's spokeswoman
for the economic recovery program. "Rescinding these funds could
halt job-creating projects years in the making where preliminary
work in some cases is already under way."


      The Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives,
announced a proposal last month to save the government $2.5
trillion over the next decade. Part of its plan involved pulling
back $45 billion in stimulus money.


      "That was an estimate," said Brian Straessle, the group's
spokesman. "That was not intended to be taken as an exact
figure."


      Part of the problem is determining how much, if any, stimulus
money remains in Washington and how much could be recovered,
Straessle said. About three-quarters of the $814 billion in
stimulus money has been spent or distributed to taxpayers, state
and local governments and companies hired to do work under dozens
of programs. House Republicans sorting through the federal budget
hope to identify money not yet spent or promised to programs,
states or local governments in the coming weeks.


      Congress could go after some of the unspent money, although it
would require undoing commitments made in the stimulus legislation,
and no specific proposals have been offered to do that.


      House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan announced another
Republican austerity plan Thursday, this one to slash spending for
domestic agencies by nearly 20 percent. The proposal stems from the
GOP pledge to reduce spending to levels in place before Obama took
office.


      The roughly $168 billion in stimulus money that still hasn't
been spent is proof that Obama's program couldn't deliver the
immediate economic jolt promised two years ago, Straessle said.
"This is not an attempt at economic stimulus. This is just basic
government spending."


      Oxhorn said much of that money - $53 billion - is set aside for
promised tax relief and government spending to help taxpayers. And
$115 billion more is committed in some cases with signed contracts
to ongoing programs and projects, like roads and bridges, energy
efficiency and education.


      States, local governments and other recipients have been slow to
spend some of that money, according to weekly reports from federal
agencies. For example, more than $14 billion remains in the
pipeline to help doctors and hospitals providing Medicaid and
Medicare services to convert to electronic health records; nearly
$5 billion remains to help weatherize homes and to help states and
local governments develop energy-efficiency strategies.


      States also expect to receive continued quarterly Medicaid
enhancement payments into the summer, the remainder of an $87
billion recovery program intended to help them through their own
financial problems. "Every state in the union has plugged that
money into their budgets for the coming year," said Michael Bird,
federal affairs counsel for the National Conference of State
Legislatures.


      In some cases, the money is set aside to reimburse states and
local governments for projects under way, like highway and local
airport improvements. Administration officials have warned that
tampering with any of that money would leave states and
municipalities on the hook for the cost of those projects.


      "You've got some legal issues if this is money that has been
obligated by the states already," said Scheppach, of the
governor's association. "They're sort of into breaking contracts
at that point."
      

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Politics and Government News

Congressional Republicans say they want to cut
federal spending by raiding $45 billion from the president's politically unpopular economic stimulus program. But they won't be able to get their hands on most of that money.

GOP's plan to raid $45B in unspent stimulus money hits snag

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