Democrats tell Perry to take it all
03/03/2009
News 8 Austin
3/3/2009 8:15 PM
By: Catie Beck
For the average Texan, it's not the most stimulating conversation, but it sure is getting a few lawmakers fired up.
"Take what you can get while you get it," Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said.
The federal stimulus money coming to Texas is at the center of most Capitol conversations.
One group of Democrats is urging Gov. Rick Perry to accept the full amount available to the state.
"Saying no to stimulus money is saying no to too many Texas families," Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said.
Perry has been standing at the center of the debate but said he's not yet decided what Texas will take. His concerns stem from what he calls strings and stipulations attached to the money that could change Texas policymaking.
Tuesday, the Governor's Office released a statement.
"Its unfortunate that today some legislators decided to inject politics in to the stimulus discussion," the governor's spokesperson Allison Castle said in the statement. "Despite the tone of the press conference and the fact that the governor is yet to make a decision, he looks forward to working with all lawmakers on this important issue to Texas families."
But, Democrats argue that politics play no part and that this discussion is about better jobs, roads and schools for Texans in a desperate time.
"Accept this money at a time when anyone who is really paying attention to the people on this will tell you that we're in dire circumstances," Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, said.
Perry said he's thinking of the long-term circumstances that happen in taking the money, and so the Washington debate continues in Texas.
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