Few states stand to lose more civilian jobs in the base-closure process than Texas, but the state received one of the smallest Labor Department grants to help communities prepare for the losses.

The reason? The state didn't ask for any more.

Last week, the Labor Department handed out $28 million in grants to 35 states and Washington, D.C., to help them plan economic development efforts, job training or other initiatives.

Texas received $235,000, ahead of only five other states. Twenty states received $1 million or more, including several states with no bases slated for closure.

The Texas Workforce Commission did not ask for more because it didn't need it, said Larry Jones, spokesman for the state agency.

"We already have in place at the 28 local work force boards the infrastructure necessary to deal with this," Jones said. "We feel like we're being good stewards of the taxpayer dollar by not requesting unnecessary funds."

Four defense installations in Texas are recommended for closure -- Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant near Texarkana, Brooks City Base in San Antonio and Naval Station Ingleside.

The direct job losses in Texarkana could be 2,650 and in Ingleside, near Corpus Christi, 2,200. An additional 2,900 jobs could be gone from Brooks.

The grants will be awarded to work force commission boards in Northeast Texas, San Antonio, the Coastal Bend and North Texas.

"There was evidence from the 1995 round that if you're ahead of the curve on these matters, economic prosperity can result if the right planning is done," said David James, a spokesman for the Labor Department in Washington.

Bowie County Judge James Carlow said the state plans to allocate $50,000 for the Texarkana area, an amount he described as "not much" for an area facing what could be a crippling economic blow.

"We've got mixed feelings about the money right now," Carlow said. "It sends the signal that we're not trying to save the base, that we're trying to find an alternate use. Our focus is on getting off that list."

The Labor Department awarded large grants to a number of states that stand to lose major bases, such as the $1 million given to Connecticut, $1.2 million to Maine and $1 million to New Mexico.

Yet Illinois received $1.5 million but doesn't have a base recommended for closure. Alabama received $1 million, but under the recommendations, the state would gain 2,018 jobs.

Indiana, another state with no base on the closure list, is to get $1.5 million.