Lawmakers learn about stimulus investment in Fla.

Tallahassee, Florida -- State lawmakers learned more about how the federal stimulus money impacted Florida.

The Governor's Special Advisor, Don Winstead, made a power point presentation to state senators explaining how the estimated $15.7 billion stimulus money is creating jobs and boosting Florida's economy.

Official state and federal reports indicate Florida saved and created 23,900 full time jobs, but that number is actually closer to 47,000 since not all the jobs are full time. Most of the jobs that were saved, thanks to stimulus, are in education. The majority of new jobs are in construction and transportation.

Medicaid programs received the most money, followed by education, then transportation.

Winstead admitted the data is complicated, but so was the stimulus goal.

"Congress was not trying to do one thing, they were trying to do a number of things to stabilize state budgets, to provide relief for individuals affected by the downturn in the economy, to invest in infrastructure and also to make some strategic investments," said Winstead. "This is new territory for the federal government and the level of detail in these reports were a, was a lot of information."

State lawmakers also had an opportunity to ask questions and find out how this information will help them balance the state budget. That's something they're tasked with doing during the Legislative Session this spring.