BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Governor Ted Kulongoski announced Tuesday that the State was able to fund 5,800 jobs this quarter with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the stimulus.

The funding for these jobs came in as $150 million over the past three months. Tuesday’s press release also mentioned that the State also used this money for equipment and materials.

“This report demonstrates that the Recovery Act continues to help support jobs across the state for thousands of Oregonians during this difficult economic period,” said Gov. Kulongoski.

The press release stated that over the past three months, stimulus funds paid salaries for over 4,000 educators in Oregon’s K-12 schools and universities and 736 State correctional facility employees.

Oregon received about $613 million in total from the stimulus for this quarter, including funds for health care, education, and unemployment assistance. Around $1.7 million has been given directly to Oregonians since February. This came in the way of unemployment payments, Medicaid assistance, and food stamps assistance.

“Democrat policies in Salem and Washington have failed to create the private sector jobs we need for Oregon’s economic recovery,” responded House Minority Leader, Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg. “While creating few jobs for Oregon families, both of the Democrats’ state and federal stimulus packages have contributed to runaway government spending that will be impossible to sustain in future biennia.”