Watson Responds To Perry’s Decision To Reject Unemployment Stimulus Funds

Calling Perry’s actions in rejecting federal unemployment stimulus funds “the height of denial,” State Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) criticized the governor’s failure to accept the funds as short sighted and economically questionable:

Refusing this money is not merely short-sighted or economically questionable – it demonstrates the height of denial about the challenges confronting this state and its people.

Texans, through their taxes, will still be responsible for every dollar that the federal government wants to send back to this state.  This is economic development money, and it’s meant to help Texans who need it the most.

The Governor’s own Workforce Commission Chairman, Tom Pauken, told the Senate Nominations Committee last month that the state should accept this money.  While doing so would require some policy changes to the state’s unemployment program, Chairman Pauken noted that the Legislature would have ample opportunity to undo the changes in future years if it needs to.

It’s unfortunate that his good advice has been ignored.

Texas’ economy is slowing down, as is the rest of the nation’s.  More and more Texans are losing their jobs, and the Federal Reserve forecasts that hundreds of thousands more will become unemployed in coming months.

Now more than ever, we need a plan for coping with Texas’ growing unemployment problem, and we need resources to pay for it.

Refusing this stimulus money brings Texas no closer to that plan.  It simply moves the state deeper into the economic crisis threatening so many every-day Texans.  It’s now incumbent on the Legislature to address this issue directly and stand up for the workers, families, and businesses who are being buffeted by this recession.