On December 2, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden addressed many of the nation’s governors at a meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) in Philadelphia. New York Governor David Paterson and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine were among those in attendance. At the meeting, President-elect Obama made clear that he understands the fiscal problems plaguing the governors, 41 of whom are facing budget shortfalls in the coming year. “Every one of you is struggling to come up with a budget at a time when you’re facing great and growing needs,” the President-elect said. “More and more people are turning to you for help with health care or affordable housing—even as tightening credit markets and falling tax revenues make it more and more difficult to provide that help…To solve this crisis and to ease the burden on our states, we need action—and action now.” The NGA, through NGA Chairman Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA) and Vice-Chairman Jim Douglas (R-VT), has asked the President, President-elect, and Congress to pass an economic stimulus plan that includes an increase in the Federal Medicaid matching rate, or FMAP, for two years. While the President-elect did not offer specifics at the meeting, he has supported economic stimulus bills that have included FMAP increases in the past, and has promised to sign into law an economic stimulus plan as soon as he takes office in January. GNYHA is urging Congress to pass an FMAP increase that would provide at least $5 billion for New York to deal with an estimated $15 billion budget deficit through the end of the next State fiscal year.