By Congresswoman Kay Granger
Texas Insider Report: FT. WORTH Texas Last week Speaker Pelosi sent Congress back to Washington to vote on a $26 billion bailout bill this time for states. The passage of this legislation only encourages states to rely more on federal taxpayer dollars rather than balance their own budgets and cut unnecessary spending. Beyond the unprecedented federal involvement in state budget issues this bill has unique consequences for Texas.
Texas was singled out in the bill by mandating we commit to current education funding levels through 2013 regardless of this being in direct violation of the Texas Constitution. Our state constitution prohibits the governor from making spending commitments for future legislatures.
States not the federal government have the primary responsibility to administer and fund public education. States wont fix their budget problems as long as they know the federal government is a safety net. The Democratic leadership can call this an education bill or they can call it a jobs bill but Texans know it is just another bailout. We also know that spending over $1 trillion has not created jobs. I know a lot of families are having a hard time making ends meet. However I dont think this kind of spending is going to make things better.
