While President Barack Obama has said that the $787 billion Recovery Act “has worked as intended,” many have suggested progress has been too slow.

As part of its regular question with the candidate series, The Desert Sun asked Rep. Mary Bono Mack and Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet if they thought another federal stimulus package was needed.

Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, has declined to participate in the online series. Her chief of staff, Frank Cullen, told The Desert Sun that she “remains focused on dealing with the many important issues that affect residents of the 45th district.”

“With the congressional elections more than a year and a half away, the congresswoman will continue to work hard on these issues in Congress and turn her attention to the campaign at the appropriate time," he said.

Pougnet, the only Democrat to enter the race so far, provided this statement:

“When President Obama took office he was dealt a hand of trillion-dollar debt, rising unemployment and a crippled economy. And with an impending tsunami of economic deterioration, the administration took the extraordinary step of creating the stimulus plan to save and create jobs to get American working again.

In the Coachella Valley, we have already seen millions of dollars allocated to our Interstate 10 interchange projects, energy efficiency retrogrades on municipal buildings and host of other promising opportunities that we expect to emerge over the next six months.

Ultimately, it is too early to tell the full impact of the stimulus plan on economic recovery. We are starting to see positive indications that the economy is improving. As a fiscal conservative, I think it is too early to be discussing a second stimulus plan until we have given the first package a chance to work.”

The 45th District race kicked off earlier this year and is already attracting national attention as a key Congressional race. The election is in 2010.

For this series, the candidates are given more than a week to provide a 150-word answer.