Forty-four senators -- and the chief economist of Moody's.com and economists elsewhere -- appear to agree: the federal government helping the states pay Medicaid costs helps the economy.

"The Congressional Budget Office and Moody's.com agree that FMAP is one of the most effective tools to generate economic activity," the senators wrote to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday. The Economic Policy Institute also found the Medicaid money, originally passed in the stimulus bill and now up for renewal, was helpful.

If states don't get extra help from the feds, it could mean hundreds of thousands of jobs, they wrote. Both Minnesota Senators -- Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar -- signed on to the letter.

But Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who wants the feds to pay up but didn't sign onto a letter from governors to ask for the cash, and his spokesman say there's nothing stimulating in the extra federal cash.

"No economist would tell you that this Medicaid money is stimulative in any way," spokesman Brian McClung said last week.

The folks with economic doctorates at the Congressional Budget Office, Moody's.com chief economist Mark Zandi and the people at the Economic Policy Institute appear to differ.