Senate vote expected soon on $3B in funds for state

WASHINGTON - The Senate could vote as soon as next week on a measure that would provide $3 billion in federal Medicaid funds that New York Gov. David A. Paterson is counting on to help his strained 2011 budget, a top Senate aide said Tuesday.

The measure, which the House already has passed, would create a six-month, $25-billion extension of Medicaid funds for state and county governments across the nation facing shrinking tax revenues.

The bill would extend the one-year, $87-billion funding in last year's stimulus bill and is backed by President Barack Obama and 40 governors.

Democrats hope to have the measure ready for a vote next week, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

In a floor speech Tuesday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged passage of the measure, which he and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) co-sponsored.

"Nothing we do on job creation will be truly effective unless we also stop the bleeding caused by state budget cuts across the nation," he said.

Schumer has said the measure also would provide an estimated $22 million to Nassau County and $23 million to Suffolk County directly, without first going through Albany.

The effort to extend the Medicaid stimulus came as a report released Tuesday showed that, overall, stimulus money added between 1 million and 2.1 million workers to employment rolls by the end of last year.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office study also said the $862-billion stimulus added 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points to the growth of the economy in 2009. The controversial stimulus law combined tax breaks for individuals and businesses with lots of government spending.

The report said the most efficient parts of the stimulus include infrastructure projects such as road- and bridge-building and more generous unemployment benefits. On the other hand, the popular first-time home buyer tax credit isn't a very efficient use of stimulus dollars, the report said.

With AP