Kulongoski meeting with Obama, governors

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is in Philadelphia Tuesday to meet with President-elect Barack Obama and the nation's other governors to discuss the economy.

The meeting comes a day after Kulongoski released his budget proposal for the 2009 legislative session. His budget makes education, health care, and job creation top priorities. In order to create more jobs, Kulongoski wants to focus on infrastructure improvements and alternative energy.

But there are some holes in his budget, including a big funding gap for the Department of Human Services.  The meeting with the president-elect and his fellow governors will allow Kulongoski to get a better idea of what sort of federal aid Oregon can expect to see.

“We're going to have to make some hard choices in the months ahead about how to invest these tax dollars," Obama said in his opening remarks to the governors. "We're going to have to make hard choices like the ones that you're making right now in your state capitols, we're going to have to make in Washington.”