Perry Urges Texas Lawmakers To Keep $7B In $12b Rainy Day Fund (is it 'raining yet' Gov.?)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry kept guarded Friday about a new Senate GOP proposal to spend half of the state's $12 billion Rainy Day Fund on water and highway projects, but remained unequivocal that the money should not be used to restore spending cuts to public schools.
"We've got a substantial surplus in our state budget before you get into the Rainy Day Fund," Perry said. "The dollars for education are there in our regular general revenue."
That stance is not surprising from Perry, who has long refused to tap the stockpile of emergency cash reserves for recurring expenses. But it drew a fresh line in the sand a day after Democrats seized on a sudden willingness by Senate Republicans to crack open a fund long-protected by state GOP leaders as fiscally — and politically — sacred.
The Senate plan would take $2.5 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to shore up the state's water supply. It also throws $3.5 billion at a crumbling and congested Texas highway system, which is increasingly buckling under the strain of roughly 1,000 new residents a day.
Yet that $6 billion price tag far exceeds what Perry had in mind in January, when he called for taking $3.7 billion from the fund and divvying that for both water and roads.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/Perry-guarded-about-GOP-s-6B-Rainy-Day-Fund-plan-4428998.php#ixzz2QsPkwrK7
