Washington, D.C. - A provision that prohibited Texas—and Texas alone – from accessing emergency education funding was dropped from the final long-term Continuing Resolution to fund the U.S. government through the end of fiscal year 2011, according to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX-26). Hutchison and Burgess each led legislation in their respective chambers to get this provision removed from the final bill.

“It was unthinkable to deny Texas schools access to emergency funds that are available to every other state.  While state and local budgets, and property taxes, are strained to the limits, our schools should not be needlessly excluded from accessing available assistance,” said Sen. Hutchison, who has been working for months to have the anti-Texas language removed from the funding bill.  “Congressman Burgess and I worked hard to have this anti-Texas provision taken out of the budget bill.  Texas schools and students will no longer be unfairly singled out and penalized.”

“The schoolchildren and teachers in Texas will finally have the opportunity to receive the $830 million they should have had in the first place,” said Dr. Burgess. “This funding should have never been denied, and it is a shame that Mr. Doggett put Texas education funding at risk. For months Senator Hutchison and I have been working together to repeal this language and give schoolchildren, teachers, and our communities the funding they need during this financial crisis. We are one step closer to ending a senseless war on Texas schoolchildren.”

The provision, passed last year, required Texas to make three-year funding assurances for schools to be submitted to the US Department of Education, while every other state only had to submit one-year funding plans.  In addition the provision also mandated how the state was to distribute the emergency funding, while all other states were given the flexibility to determine how best to distribute any funds.

With final enactment of the 2011 budget, Texas schools will have equal access with other states to emergency funding.  The Texas allotment is up to $830 million of the total $ 10 Billion in the Education Jobs Fund.  The emergency spending requirements do not permit Texas to reduce its own share of funding for education if the state applies for the federal emergency funds for FY 2011.