A State With a Wish List for Stimulus Spending

Experts say that the success of the stimulus package will rely on its effectiveness in California. According to the article, "The infrastructure and energy projects, high-tech job creation, rural outreach and low-income benefits included in the proposal make the state a proving ground where nearly all the plan’s potential benefits, and pitfalls, converge." Various counties, rural, urban, agricultural, low-tech, high-tech, and more, have already drawn up and proposed their plans for the federal money they will receive from the stimulus bill. Many of the plans revolve around infrastructure projects, like repaving a part of the Vasco Road in Contra Costa County. The stimulus package will also help out Silicon Valley and the growing "clean-tech sector", which includes projects like solar equipment, energy-efficient cars and smart energy grids. The money could also help many rural counties gain broadband internet access, which would increase the number of "green-collar" workers; thus helping the unemployment issue.

However hopeful these plans are, critics argue that the stimulus plan might not be enough to create much of a difference for the economic problems here in California. And although the stimulus bill calls for federal tax cuts, some states, like California, are considering tax increases. In addition to all of these issues, California has been quite politically unruly. The deeply partisan culture in Sacramento makes it more difficult for the state's leaders to reach an agreement on closing the budget gap this year and on spending money marked by Congress as discretionary. With so many problems, the stimulus bill will definitely be put to the test the hardest here in California.