Feds order Ohio to use stimulus funds for shovel-ready projects

A press release from U.S. Rep. John Boehner:

Boehner Statement on Federal Officials Ordering Ohio to Shut Down Its Transportation Slush Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) issued the following statement after federal officials ordered the Ohio Department of Transportation to kill a $57 million slush fund to study projects and put the money into shovel-ready projects:

“The stated intent of the so-called stimulus package was to create jobs, and certainly a $57 million slush fund studying projects did nothing to achieve that goal. With Ohio’s unemployment rate the highest it’s been in 25 years, I’m pleased that federal officials stepped in to order Ohio to use all of its construction dollars for shovel-ready projects that will create much-needed jobs.”

NOTE: Ohio’s Republican congressional delegation wrote to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in April asking him to investigate Ohio’s plans to create the slush fund after media reports disclosed the fund’s existence. U.S. House Republicans also wrote to Gov. Strickland expressing their frustration that Ohio would spend money to study projects that may never get built while denying shovel-ready jobs that would create jobs immediately.

This is second allocation of “stimulus” dollars Ohio has been forced to rescind. Last week, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reversed its decision to award $1.1 million to clean up a Cold War-era weapons facility that was declared clean two years ago. Despite continued misuse of “stimulus” dollars, Gov. Strickland refuses to establish an independent, bipartisan oversight board to ensure Ohioans that their federal tax dollars are being spent appropriately.

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County. He was first elected to Congress in 1990.