Senators Weigh In On Request For Ohio Help

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new president is in office, but the nation is facing an old problem.

The economy’s downturn has left states and cities with their hands out, asking for extra cash to create jobs and keep the recession from getting worse.

Now a plan is being put in place to help stimulate the economy as President Barack Obama settles into the Oval Office.

NBC 4‘s Patrick Preston worked to find out how soon Ohioans will see the money and what it will mean for regular citizens.

The Senate could vote as early as next week on an economic stimulus plan and both Gov. Ted Strickland and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman are hoping to bring help to Ohio by mid-February.

“Everybody’s treated equally, but those communities and states with higher unemployment, like Ohio has, gets a little more,“ said Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Brown said the federal stimulus plan will bring billions of dollars to Ohio for Medicaid, unemployment benefit extensions and other safety net services. He’s also touting money to fund so-called shovel ready projects that will create new jobs throughout the state.

“This infrastructure spending starts building highways and fixing bridges and doing water and sewer projects. You’ll see more people in the community with spendable income that will come to your restaurant or come to your hardware store,“ Brown said.

But, Brown wasn’t in a position to promise a dollar amount yet. The hope is that the stimulus money works its way through local communities and with every job created comes more income tax revenue and one less person collecting unemployment benefits.

One project that isn’t considered shovel ready is Columbus’ request for $200 million for light rail. Brown said it’s too early to tell if light rail has a chance. For those who think the stimulus will end the recession outright, Brown issued a word of warning.

“The economy won’t be better in 2009. Things are still going downhill. This will make things begin to be better I think by 2010 if we do this stimulus right and do this job creation directly,“ Brown said.

The other side, Republican Sen. George Voinovich’s spokesperson said that the senator wants to stimulate the economy in a fiscally responsible manner. His office did not offer a definition of what that meant exactly, nor would the senator comment on specific stimulus requests from the governor or cities like Columbus.

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