. . . state leaders rarely mention the $12 billion in stimulus dollars they received when they discuss what great work they did to balance the budget, and because Gov. Rick Perry was one of the country’s most dogged critics of the stimulus dollars
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From the Statesman
By Jason Embry
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Read the full story here.
Gov. Rick Perry's opposition to federal stimulus dollars for unemployment benefits earlier this year boosted his standing among many Republicans. But other issues surrounding the state's unemployment program could create political headaches for Perry in the next year and a half.With unemployment rising, the state will have to borrow more than $643 million from the federal government in the coming months to keep paying benefits, even though that money will come interest-free for 18 months. And the Texas Workforce Commission is planning to ask employers to pay more in taxes to repay that money and keep the unemployment trust fund healthy.
Texas Relied Heavily on Federal Stimulus Dollars
By Jason Embry
First Reading Blog / Read more here.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures shows that federal stimulus dollars played a large role in allowing Texas lawmakers to balance their budget this year without tapping Rainy Day Funds.
The national group asked states to say how they closed their budget gaps for the 2010 budget year, and 35 states responded. Of those, 25 said they used federal stimulus dollars to close budget gaps, and Texas reported that it relied most heavily on stimulus dollars, using those dollars to provide 96.7 percent of the gap-closing solution. Nebraska was next at 88 percent.
At least 11 states (not Texas) raised taxes to close their gaps. At least eight states (not Texas) tapped their rainy day funds. Montana and West Virginia (not Texas) relied entirely on spending cuts.
Texas was one of the few states to avoid a budget shortfall in the current year. But the report also projects a budget gap of $4 billion to $5 billion a year starting in the 2012 budget year. This is all worth pointing out because state leaders rarely mention the $12 billion in stimulus dollars they received when they discuss what great work they did to balance the budget, and because Gov. Rick Perry was one of the country’s most dogged critics of the stimulus dollars.
3 comments:
The important sentence in this article is, “Montana and West Virginia (not Texas) relied entirely on spending cuts.” [to balance their budgets]. God, these politicians would rather eat their children than cut spending. That applies to both Rep. and Dem. types. This stimulus money is like a drug and they won’t be able to function without it. What are they going to do next year when the folks finally wise up to Obama’s attempt to takeover the finances of the states?
He's not going to accept the unemployment stimulus forcing more for businesses to pay and then he plans on borrowing millions from the government ensuring long-term debt. What a guy!
Perry continues to cost Texans more money. Public awareness is needed to get rid of Perry in 2010.
If interested re: Perry now borrowing billions from the Federal Government instead of accepting the stimulus money, copy and paste the entire links to your web browser address line.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1535241/North.Texas/Texas.May.Borrow.$2.Billion.to.Cover.Unemployment..
Texas already borrowed $160 million instead of accepting the stimulus money, which was more than $500 million.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Texas_borrows_160_million_from_feds_for_unemployment.html
Perry is an idiot and must be replaced.
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