Some speculate Texas Gov. Rick Perry may reject aid from stimulus package
February 9, 2009
"If there's any risk Perry would reject that money, we want responsible lawmakers to take it, allocate it and use it for Texas," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso.
Written by Robert T. Garrett, The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Many states, running short of cash, may jump at the chance to spend federal stimulus money.
In Texas, though, the executive and legislative branches may not jump in unison.
Several Democrats and even a few Republicans are nervous that Gov. Rick Perry might reject the federal aid.
"If there's any risk Perry would reject that money, we want responsible lawmakers to take it, allocate it and use it for Texas," said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso.
Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle wouldn't say if the governor will oppose taking any of the aid.
"The governor continues to oppose the bailout, but if Congress does allocate taxpayer money, a lot of which is from hard-working Texans, then Texans deserve their fair share," she said.
Several state lawmakers have asked the stimulus package's congressional authors to add wording to let a legislature bypass a governor and accept the federal help.
The U.S. House has passed a stimulus bill with the bypass provision, though it doesn't appear to be in a Senate version.
Texas and South Carolina are playing leading roles in the mini-drama.
Perry and South Carolina GOP Gov. Mark Sanford have been outspoken critics of the stimulus package, often referring to it as a "bailout," thereby linking it to last fall's $700 billion Wall Street bailout, which is increasingly unpopular.
U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., added the gubernatorial-bypass language, which says that if a governor doesn't request the money within 45 days, a legislature can accept it by passing a resolution.
Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, likes that arrangement.
"My understanding is that the Congress worked with members of the House here to make sure that language in the stimulus bill and what we're doing here are consistent," Straus said last week. "I don't see a problem with it at all."
Last week, state Reps. Joe Pickett and Marisa Marquez, both El Paso Democrats, and Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, filed a resolution saying the Legislature intends to take the federal money for Texas. In the Senate, Shapleigh filed an almost identical measure.
Straus played down any friction with Perry.
"The governor's going to be involved," he said.
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