Floridas take of the federal stimulus package continues to increase, the states top overseer told reporters Friday during an update on the program he said has earmarked $21.7 billion for the state.
That means about $1 billion in federal funds will continue to flow into the state each quarter at least to the end of the current fiscal year, said Gov. Charlie Crists economic recovery point man, Don Winstead. So far, about $11.2 billion has been spent.
We are very pleased with the rate of expenditures we are seeing, said Don Winstead. There is still a lot of activity yet to go.
Sectors receiving the most federal assistance include education ($3.9 billion) and transportation ($1.4 billion.)
Winstead also said recent reports that Florida ranked at the bottom of all states on per capita stimulus spending used data in a spectacularly bad way.
Per capita comparison doesn't paint a particularly accurate picture because Floridas disproportionate number of elder residents skews the figures. Thats partly because so much of the federal money was targeted toward public education.
Florida has about 6 percent of the nations population, but over 9 percent of citizens over 80. Nearly one in eight U.S. citizens over 65 lives in Florida.
When you do a per capita analysis and your biggest funding source is education, all the seniors in the denominator probably make us look worse (funding wise) than we actually are, Winstead said.
Another factor reducing the states overall ranking is climate, which is more moderate than in other states, a factor that would affect weatherization funds doled out by the federal government.
Florida has also been slower in spending transportation funds, Winstead said. Other states used most of their money on resurfacing. Florida spent more money on projects that added capacity to the states road system. Those projects take more time to complete, a lag that will also slow federal payments to the state.
