In their first face-to-face meeting since the Nov. 4 election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday to work toward approving and releasing federal money for transportation and infrastructure projects to spur the state's downtrodden economy.
Speaking at the National Governors' Association meeting in Philadelphia, Schwarzenegger said doing so would be the federal government's best way of helping states in deficit like California.
"With an immediate commitment to national infrastructure investment, it's possible to put shovels in the dirt and start immediately on projects across the nation," said Governor Schwarzenegger at the conference, according to a press release from his office. "This would quickly start to boost the economy with orders from U.S. factories for steel, cement, asphalt and other materials -- creating jobs now and laying the foundation for future economic growth."
There was no immediate response from Obama's transition team, though Obama has said he favors pursuing an economic stimulus plan as one of his presidency's first plans, and has also said the nation lags in critical infrastructure improvements.
Schwarzenegger's administration has determined that there are more than $28 billion worth of such projects in California that could be approved to start within the first days of Obama's presidency.
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