AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ The Texas Senate voted Monday to accept $555 million in federal stimulus money for unemployment benefits.
The move is a slap at GOP Gov. Rick Perry — who rejected the funds — and his political battle cry of excessive Washington spending. The measure now heads to the Texas House.
The funding would expand state unemployment benefits by including part-time workers and people who quit for compelling reasons, such as a child’s illness or family violence.
Perry has agreed to take most of the nearly $17 billion stimulus money earmarked for Texas. But he says there are too many strings attached to the unemployment money.
The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Kevin Eltife of Tyler, says the expanded benefits required by the federal regulations are a tiny fraction of the total jobless payouts.
Eltife says federal rules will add about $57 million a year to the cost of unemployment benefits.