ProPublica has been tracking how billions in federal stimulus funds will be spent in each state and takes a closer look at Montana’s plan to use about $3.4 million to renovate its liquor warehouse in Helena.
The nonprofit news organization cautions to “think twice before sounding the pork alarm.”
Projects like Montana’s liquor warehouse could provide fodder for stimulus critics, but it’s actually just a continuation of a twenty-year-old program designed to save the state money by reducing energy consumption.
“If light can be reflected in through the windows, we save money,” Steven Swanson, the distilled spirits manager at the warehouse, told us. The state of Montana has been in the liquor distribution business [6] since prohibition ended, and brought in about $100 million last year. The warehouse is just one of the many state-owned buildings in line for cost-saving energy improvements.
Apparently, Gov. Brian Schweitzer touted energy conservation programs when he and President Barack Obama spoke about a potential stimulus package during the president’s transition to office.