Barbour: $26 Billion Package Will Be Harmful

From www.thehill.com ~ Democrats rushed back from recess this week to pass $26 billion in state aid, but at least one Republican governor says the package will do more harm than good.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a possible 2012 challenger to President Obama, said the strings attached to the funds will cause a headache for the state legislature.

“The Bill as passed the Senate will force Mississippi to rewrite its current year (FY11) budget," Barbour lamented in a statement.

The Mississippi Republican also said the state will have to re-direct funds to education in order to qualify for the aid.

Barbour estimated that that his state will have to transfer $50-100 million to education, "funds that must be taken away from public safety, human services, mental health and other state priorities and given to education," to qualify for the aid package.

"There is no justification for the federal government hijacking state budgets, but that is exactly what Congress has done," Barbour said.

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