California Lawmakers Hope To Use Millions In Stimulus Before Deadline
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Millions of dollars in federal stimulus money remains unspent in California, but before that cash goes back to Washington, some state lawmakers want to make sure it gets spent.
Most of the witnesses before the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee said there was still a lot of work that had to be done to utilize federal stimulus dollars.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
Robert Oglesby, Executive Director of the California Energy Commission admitted that there had been delays in payroll certification for contractors.
He was asked by committee chairman State Senator Alex Padilla how long that would, but he answered that rather than responding off the cuff, he would get back to the chairman with more details.
State agencies have until March and April of 2012 to use their stimulus funds or have it revert back to the federal government.
Ted Park with the State Department of General Services said not all state agencies had benefited from energy upgrades.
Parks and Rec, Food and Agriculture, Fish and Game, Caltrans, Cal-Fire, Veteran's Affairs and Water Resources, were all part of a list that haven't taken advantage of the program resources yet.
Park said they certainly would, if funding were available. Much of the funding has been allocated to consumers and local governments.
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