U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison suggested Monday that Gov. Rick Perry deserves far less credit than he usually gives himself for the state’s economic success.

Hutchison, who is set to challenge Perry in next year’s Republican primary, also said Perry needs to show more leadership in his handling of the state’s unemployment trust fund.

Perry has staked his governorship on the Texas economy, often pointing out that the state has more Fortune 500 companies than any other and that it’s the country’s leading exporter. He’s also quick to say that the economy “didn’t happen by accident.”

“Our low taxes, controlled government spending and fair legal system give us a leg up on other states,” Perry told the Texas Daily Newspapers Association on Monday.

But to hear Hutchison tell it, much of the state’s economic success is, if not an accident, a product of good weather, good air service and decisions made long before Perry moved into the Governor’s Mansion at the end of 2000, such as not having a state income tax not allowing unions to “dominate” the state.

“The reason Texas is in good shape today is because of the attributes that we have that neither the governor nor I produced,” Hutchison told the newspaper group, speaking a few hours before Perry.

Earlier this month, Perry announced that he did not want the state to take $556 million in federal stimulus money in exchange for broadening the state’s unemployment insurance program.

The state’s unemployment trust fund is projected to be $750 million below a required threshold next fall, which would trigger a tax increase on employers to replenish it.

A federal infusion would not make the trust fund whole or preclude the rate increase. But it would reduce the amount needed to bring it back to the required level.

Hutchison criticized Perry’s approach but did not say whether she would have also rejected the federal aid.

“I agree with him on the point that the fed government should not have mandated the specifics in the coverage,” Hutchison said. “However I believe that we look at all of the aspects of this, that we are in a position where it’s not status quo in the fund. I think there are management questions about where we are.”

She added, “A leader would be taking time to look at all of these aspects and coming up with a better solution.”

Perry has said that taking the federal dollars would have cost more in the long run.

“I think most Texans look at Washington, D.C. today and see what’s going on up there and they’re like, ‘Listen, the last thing we want is Washington coming down here to Texas and telling us how to run our state,’” Perry said. “We have a system in place that works. The people who lose their jobs by no fault of their own are going to be covered.”

Signaling how he will run against Hutchison, Perry used the word “Washington” seven times in a 100-second exchange with reporters.