Staff Report
Published Feb. 3, 2011

In the last two years, South Carolina state agencies have received and spent more than $4 billion in federal stimulus revenue, Comptroller Richard Eckstrom reported on Wednesday.

As of Jan. 31, state agencies had spent $4.04 billion, Eckstrom said.  He has provided the detailed expenditures of each agency on a Stimulus Spending Transparency page linked to the Comptroller’s website, at www.cg.sc.gov.

The Department of Transportation, for example, lists more than $358 million in allocated stimulus funds , both for highway projects and grants to local governments.

Eckstrom reiterated that he believes that the stimulus was excessive federal spending, but that tracking of those dollars was important.

“South Carolinians, regardless of their position on the Stimulus, deserve the peace of mind that these federal funds aren’t being lost through fraud or waste. Being as transparent as possible and providing the public with detailed spending reports over the Internet helps with that.”