Three Brave Senators

The three republicans who worked on the stimulus deal struck today: Arlen Spector, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe. Hip hooray for them. Even though just three republicans worked on the bill, a number of republican governors backed it:

NPR: Senate negotiators on the economic stimulus bill say a small but contentious provision to aid states has been partially restored.

The $25 billion "state stabilization fund" had been devised by the House to help states plug holes in their budgets as tax revenues fall. The Senate deleted the fund completely, and governors fought to get it back.

In the Senate, the rap on the fund was its lack of oversight. Last week, budget committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) called it a slush fund, saying, "There's absolutely no strings attached. Governors can use it for any purpose."

But without it, Ohio's Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said, he'd be looking at "some terrible, terrible choices."

The economy has blown big holes in the Ohio state budget. Strickland gave some examples in an interview: "We believe that perhaps 500 employees in our correctional system would be terminated, that there would be as many as 51,000 Ohioans who would lose mental health services, and that as many as 5,200 mental health providers would lose their jobs."