WASHINGTON - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, meeting Tuesday with President-elect Barack Obama, distanced himself from a bipartisan group of governors pressing for federal funds to alleviate state budget shortfalls and boost local economies.
The meeting in Philadelphia came as Minnesota braces for bad news in the two-year deficit forecast due Thursday.
Despite grim budget forecasts and implications for schools, roads, health care and taxes, Pawlenty expressed skepticism about a federal stimulus package being considered by Obama and Democrats in Congress, which includes extra spending for infrastructure projects and Medicaid health programs.
His view on Medicaid is a turnaround from his position as chairman of the National Governors Association in January, when he signed a letter seeking more health care funding as part of a prior stimulus package.
"All the money that people are asking for from the federal government, and the money they are sending out, is money they don't have," Pawlenty said Tuesday.
It was the first meeting between a president-elect and the governors association, pressing to carve out a $176 billion slice of a stimulus bill that could exceed $500 billion.
The recession has prompted 30 states to identify shortfalls totaling more than $30 billion, the association said.
Pawlenty's cool response to the stimulus proposals positions him closer to Republican leaders in Congress than to some Republican governors such as Vermont's Jim Douglas, vice chairman of the governors group.