Efforts afoot to monitor state's share of stimulus money
March 11, 2009
One tool for taxpayers, Crownover said, will be the Texas comptroller's Web site, which will track the stimulus money in the same way it already posts state expenditures.
Written by Kate Alexander, The Austin American Statesman
Keeping tabs on where and how Texas' $16 billion in federal stimulus money gets spent will bedevil state officials for years to come because a lot of money is going to a wide array of agencies in a short period of time.
But several efforts are afoot to ensure that the money is monitored in a comprehensive, open way.
"We just need to be very careful, deliberate and responsible about the opportunity the State of Texas has to get this right," said state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, who leads the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the stimulus money.
One tool for taxpayers, Crownover said, will be the Texas comptroller's Web site, which will track the stimulus money in the same way it already posts state expenditures.
The details of that Web site are still in the works, said R.J. DeSilva, a spokesman for Comptroller Susan Combs.
Big infusions of new money are coming to the state for education, transportation, energy and other programs. Money has already begun to flow to Texas, even though lawmakers are still trying to figure out how to deal with it.
The Health and Human Services Commission, for one, received more than $900 million last week for Medicaid.
The state auditor already bears much of the responsibility for monitoring federal dollars. And the weight of that responsibility is about to get heavier.
Under a bill filed Tuesday by state Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, the auditor would get increased oversight and investigatory powers to do that job. The legislation would also require monthly online reports to the public on the money available.
Dunnam, chairman of the House Select Committee on Federal Stabilization Funding, said the state needs to ensure transparency and accountability in how the stimulus money is dispersed.
"It is our responsibility to make this money work for Texas and make sure it is not wasted and it goes to maximum job creation and economic stimulus," Dunnam said.
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