North Carolina House Speaker Joe Hackney lobbied President-elect Barack Obama's transition team Thursday to make road and bridge improvement projects a top priority in a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus package.

Hackney, a Democrat and president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, joined top lawmakers from other states making the pitch for construction projects during a meeting with Obama's economic advisers in Washington.

"They're essential. They going to have to be done anyway," Hackney said of the infrastructure projects in an interview. "And from the point of view of the Obama administration and the Congress, what they want is immediate jobs. These are programs where people can be put to work right away."

Obama's economic advisers and Congressional Democrats are preparing a stimulus package for passage in January that could run more than $600 billion.

Obama has expressed support for funding infrastructure projects as a way to jumpstart the economy, with a goal of creating 2.5 million jobs over the next two years.

"We've got shovel-ready projects all across the country that governors and mayors are pleading to fund. And the minute we can get those investments to the state level, jobs are going to be created," Obama said at a press conference Monday.

Hackney said that he and other state lawmakers also want the stimulus package to include an extension of unemployment benefits and increased funding for food stamps and Medicaid.

"We think it's important to help those in the greatest need right now," Hackney said.