Harrisburg, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Ed Rendell is paying an old political hand $100,000 to spearhead a publicity campaign for programs financed with billions of federal economic-stimulus dollars.

Rendell's hiring of Ken Snyder as a subcontractor comes at a time the governor is calling for spending cuts and tax increases to avoid a state budget shortfall of more than $2 billion.

Snyder is a Philadelphia political strategist and media consultant who briefly acted as Rendell's press secretary when he first took office in 2003.

Administration officials say the hiring of the publicist is critical to getting the word out to people who can be helped by the $18 billion dollars that Pennsylvania expects to receive in stimulus money and benefits over three years.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

 

 Email To Friend           Digg It!