Governors to ask for $176B in federal aid

With 43 states facing budget shortfalls, the nation's governors plan to ask President-elect Barack Obama for $176 billion in federal aid at a meeting scheduled to take place in Philadelphia today, reports the Washington Post.

Unlike the federal government, which can run a deficit, most states are required to balance their budgets.

The governors intend to ask for $136 billion for infrastructure projects and $40 billion to bolster Medicaid health systems, the newspaper said. Infrastructure projects include road and bridge repair, public transit and broadband Internet.

When states face budget shortfalls, many discretionary information technology projects are shunted aside and the limited funds available go to supporting existing systems.