I’ll take a break from knitting the latest in a long line of rows on the David Alexander Larson commemorative blanket to blog about the economy. Rounds said in an Argus Leader story yesterday that he will refuse $5 million in unemployment insurance aid that’s part of the federal stimulus package. The Argus says that amount is basically a drop in the bucket when compared to the $662 million the state will receive. The guv says he’ll accept $6 million in unemployment aid.

Rounds said during a Newspaper Day press conference in January (yes, I’m getting a lot of mileage out of that event), that the money some lawmakers were counting on to balance the beleaguered state budget would come with some strings and that appears to be the issue with the $5 million. Rounds is afraid the aid will end up costing businesses in higher taxes and fees. Several other Republican governors, like Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mark Sanford South Carolina apparently agree.

Here’s what Rounds said at a meeting of the National Governors Association “We have the lowest unemployment insurance tax in the nation, and that’s competitive for our businesses. So naturally, we’re concerned that at a time when we’re to re-employ people, you don’t want to make it more burdensome for them to actually get the job done and bring more people to work.”

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