Alaska, W.Va., waited for stimulus funds

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Officials in West Virginia and Alaska say their states were not rushed to grab their portion of the $787 billion federal stimulus package.

"The recession hit West Virginia later," Matt Turner, a spokesman for Gov. Joe Manchin, told USA Today.

Jack Kreinheder, a state budget official, said so far a delay in receiving the federal aid "is not causing us any kind of severe problems."

President Barack Obama said in June he was "not satisfied" with the pace of stimulus spending and promised to speed up the process. Ed DeSeve, an adviser to the president on the stimulus program, said the speed at which states received funds depended on need and how fast states completed their requests.

California has already received more than half of its scheduled allocation, while Alaska has received less than a quarter of its share, the newspaper said.

The $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed into law six months ago, includes $288 billion in tax cuts and $499 billion in spending initiatives. To date, $76.3 billion or 15 percent of the spending portion of the bill has been allocated, the newspaper said.