Stimulus plan: Spend now, details later (promise)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wants governors to hurry up and begin building bridges and schools to revive the economy. His administration is learning that spending $787 billion as quickly and transparently as promised is no easy task.

States wanting desperately to tap into the new money are having trouble keeping track of the application deadlines and requirements in the 400-page stimulus bill. Governors must sign pledges saying they'll spend the money appropriately, but the administration is still figuring out what the rules are.

"Well, that's kind of scary," said Richard Eckstrum, South Carolina's comptroller general.

Hanging over all of this are two threats. The first was written into the law, saying that if states miss a deadline or don't spend the money fast enough, they lose the cash. Vice President Joe Biden delivered the second threat last week, warning that if states misspend the money, "don't look for any help from the federal government for a long while."

Yet figuring out how to spend the money correctly isn't easy. For example:

—The Housing and Urban Development Department is offering $1.5 billion for homeless prevention, but there's confusion over who qualifies.

—Governors are required to report how many jobs are being saved or created, but there has been no explanation of how to count them.

—The Energy Department is giving out money to make homes energy-efficient, and the work must begin soon, but there aren't enough trained workers for all the remodeling jobs.

When Washington tries to spend a lot of money, spend it quickly and spend it responsibly it usually succeeds only in two of those three goals. Federal aid after Hurricane Katrina was wasted on temporary house trailers and fraudulent assistance applications. Some of the government loans rushed out to help small businesses recover after the Sept. 11 terror attacks went instead to a radio station in South Dakota, a motorcycle shop in Utah and more than 100 Dunkin' Donuts and Subway franchises.

The Obama administration is working to prevent such stories about the stimulus bill. Governors, meanwhile, are making some tough calls.

California, for instance, is counting on at least $10 billion from the stimulus to stabilize its budget. If it comes up short, it probably will need to cut $1 billion. That decision needs to be made soon. But right now, there's no way to know for sure how much the state will get.