You Paid For It: Gov's office defends misused stimulus money

Two lawmakers blasted Governor David Paterson's office on Thursday for allowing many low-income parents to use federal stimulus money to buy beer, cigarettes, and lottery tickets instead of school supplies.

Drawing upon a pot of $140 million taxpayer dollars, Paterson authorized a one-time, $200-per-child payment to qualifying parents to help them prepare their children for the upcoming school year. However, as CBS News first reported on Wednesday, much of the money funded luxury purchases instead.

"It was really a total disservice not only to those children," Assemblyman James Tedisco (R- Saratoga/Schenectady) said, "but a total disservice to the taxpayers of New York State."

Scott Murphy (D - Glens Falls), who defeated Tedisco in the special election to replace Kirsten Gillibrand in Congress, agreed with his former rival in saying Paterson's office erred.

"The execution just wasn't there," Murphy said. "The money didn't go for school supplies in alot of cases, and that was just wrong."

Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook did not allow CBS 6 to interview the governor. Fielding the questions on his own, Hook insisted that the federal government would not permit the state to attach any stipulations to the use of the money.

A spokesman for the federal Administration for Children and Families was checking Wednesday to verify that statement.

While Hook insisted that most parents did use the money for school supplies, he admitted the state has not analyzed sales records to prove that.