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population within the next year. Florida would receive a lot more money if it just received an amount proportionate to its population. Transportation funding will be a component of the economic stimulus package, and although he is not optimistic that Florida will get its fair share in the future, he hopes federal monies will be distributed more fairly than they have been in the past. A number of transportation projects are critical to the future of Florida, including commercial launch facilities, which is a form of transportation. Florida is an -ideal state for experimental mass transit projects because the land is level, and the thousands of tourists who come to Florida would see how the experiment worked. SR -60, SR -192 and SR -520 all need to be widened and are important public safety projects. We should have learned through our experience with Hurricane Andrew that we need good roads to get people from the coast to the inland parts of Florida. Congressman Bacchus advised that he will urge the State to get these projects on the slate if additional funding becomes available through the economic stimulus package. Part of the problem is lack of clout in Congress and the Senate due to lack of seniority. The new members must be educated about the urgency of this issue and prevented from being bought off by a few pieces of pork in their districts. He and Senator Mack will make a presentation on this issue at the Legislative Delegation. Another challenge is getting the State business community to focus on these issues in Washington. The Florida Chamber of Commerce is beginning to realize that it is important to focus on transportation and other funding issues in Washington. Failure to address these concerns is affecting growth management, and federal mandates on Medicaid are squeezing everything else out of the State budget and driving unfunded responsibilities back down to local government. Commissioner Macht hoped that Congressman Bacchus will be vigilant in the area of mandates, because the County constantly struggles with unfunded federal government mandates that cost local taxpayers a lot of money. Congressmen Bacchus commented that one of the principal reasons he decided to run for Congress was his experience at the state and local level and a desire to see the federal government give the local governments a great deal more flexibility. He is against unfunded mandates at both the state and federal levels. Broad discretion should be given to local government in how dollars are spent because local government knows better what is needed at the local level. Federal bureaucrats should not be giving the states 200 pages of regulation as a condition of getting dollars back that belonged to this state in the first place. President 4