Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi has also focused on the unemployment provisions, saying that of $54 million offered to his state under the bill, only $4 million would be available unless Mississippi changed its law to expand eligibility to part-time workers. But Mr. Barbour has not yet formally rejected the money.

Image Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina Credit... Perry Baker for The New York Times

Maurice Emsellem, policy co-director at the National Employment Law Project in Washington, a group that advocates for low-wage workers, differed with Mr. Barbour’s interpretation. Mr. Emsellem said Mississippi, where average unemployment benefits are the lowest in the nation and only 25 percent of unemployed workers qualify for help, would receive $42 million for increased payments to recipients and $4 million for administrative costs without changing its policy.

Under the incentive program that Mr. Jindal turned down for Louisiana, Mississippi would get up to $56 million more for expanding coverage by selecting from a menu of options that includes giving benefits to some part-time workers. The $56 million would pay for the expanded benefits for five years, Mr. Emsellem said.

Some governors objected even to the no-strings-attached $25 a week increase in unemployment benefits, saying it would raise expectations that would be difficult to manage when the federal dollars dry up.

In Idaho, Gov. C. L. Otter has appointed an executive panel of five former state budget officers and three former governors to review requests for stimulus money from state agencies and the private sector. David Hensley, a lawyer for Mr. Otter, complained that the law required the state to spend 3 percent of the transportation money on “transportation enhancement.”

“I never imagined that Congress would tell the state of Idaho that they have to spend $5.5 million on bike paths or pedestrian lanes,” Mr. Hensley said.