San Antonio Express News: Federal budget deal repeals ‘Doggett Amendment,’ freeing up $830 million for Texas to spend

The provision was quietly inserted into the late-night deal that prevented the federal government for shutting down.

For Texas, which faces a yawning budget deficit, the repeal of the measure authored by Austin Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett officially known as the Save Our Schools Amendment gives the state legislature a large pot of unexpected money to help plug its own deficit. Texas legislators can either use the money to reduce the size of proposed budget cuts to education in Texasor they can effectively divert the money to other uses.   

[D]oggett, who led a united effort of the state's then-12 House Democrats, condemned the action.

"Removing all accountability on Gov. Perry's use of $830 million of federal aid to education by repealing the ‘Save Our Schools' Amendment is one of many unwise concessions made to Republicans to avoid their threatened government shutdown," Doggett said. "If this federal money is added to the funding for our schools contained in the State Senate Finance bill, our purpose can still be achieved. If it simply replaces proposed state funding, then the concern of state educators, who sought our amendment, will be justified."

Doggett said that the congressional action agreed to by President Obama would allow the state to substitute this new pot of federal money for currently planned state education funding, permitting the legislature to effectively divert school funds to roads, health care or other state priorities.

"Our sole objective has remained to ensure that federal aid to education actually aids local Texas schools with additional help rather than being diverted by the State as occurred in 2009 with $3.25 billion of federal aid," said Doggett. "The governor and the legislature still have the power to do right by our Texas children."

Doggett's proposal, adopted by the all-Democratic Congress last summer, requires Texas — and only Texas — to guarantee that it will maintain state funding for education throughout 2013. Democrats support the amendment because it requires the state to use the federal money to supplement, rather than supplant, its existing public education funding

Until last week's budget deal. Perry's office lobbied aggressively behind the scenes to undo the Doggett Amendment.

Education is a prime target for cuts in the proposed 2011 budget that is trying to eliminate a $15 to $27 billion shortfall.

Full article: https://blog.mysanantonio.com/texas-politics/2011/04/federal-budget-deal-repeals-doggett-amendment-freeing-up-830-million-for-texas-to-spend/