Rep. Lloyd Doggett joins Good Day Austin to discuss his efforts to ensure more accountability for federal spending. He has been seeking to ensure that new federal aid to education be used to aid education and not simply to replace state resources that are then diverted to other purposes. Governor Rick Perry's deliberate alteration of an application for $830 million in new federal education funding recently caused the U.S. Department of Education to reject his improper request. As Rep. Doggett explains in an earlier statement, 'Texas still has the potential to access federal funds that the Department continues to hold for local Texas schools... This struggle is not about more spending; it is about ensuring that the federal spending we already have is used for the purpose for which it is intended—in this case strengthening public education. It is not about forcing the State to spend more, but only about seeing that the State does not deny aid to education to local schools solely because they have received additional federal aid.’

Rep. Doggett also notes that at this time of economic uncertainty, he supports extending the Bush Tax Cuts for middle class families and is eager for Congress to approve legislation to continue necessary government operations in a fiscally responsible manner before promptly concluding this Session.