Region Plans For Stimulus Dollars

Leaders in the six-county Sacramento region have developed a list of infrastructure projects they say could be funded with money from the federal stimulus package. The list includes construction for highways, levee improvements, community colleges, Sacramento International Airport, and mass transit.

"It's very important that the stimulus dollars get right to the ground, to the places where we know we can start delivering immediately," said West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Calbaldon. He said that the state's fiscal management is not in a position to get the resources to where they need to go to be productive.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said an advisor to President Obama told him and several other mayors in Washington, D.C. during the inauguration that the administration would try to get dollars directly to them.

"'You're going to have to make sure you spend them wisely, don't squander this opportunity. You have an unbelievable opportunity to put people to work during this challenging economic time,'" said Johnson referring to his conversation with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

While local leaders do not know how much money they may receive from the stimulus package, they were confident thousands of jobs would be created which could help the region's economy. In the first quarter of this year, 14,000 job losses are expected.