As governor of Massachusetts, Romney favored the use of economic stimulus measures, using both federal funding and state funding to help lift the state's sluggish economy. Just months into his tenure as governor, in April 2003, while he shied away from any public endorsement of the tax cuts proposed by the Bush Administration, he argued for federal funds to stimulate the local economy: "I very much support an economic stimulus. ... An economic stimulus is a good thing for Massachusetts." That same year, he proposed his own economic stimulus package of tax credits and grants to promote the state's high technology industry, ultimately totaling $100 million when agreed to by the legislature. Two years later, in February 2005, he proposed a much larger stimulus package, totaling $600 million, that he said would create 20,000 jobs over 5 years. The most controversial provision would have devoted $37 million to stimulate job creation by paying businesses $30,000 for each new employee hired.