Education Jobs Fund

Floor Speech

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, as an elected representative of the great State of Texas, I swore a solemn oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. So it is a great disappointment to discover that some Members of the other body are attempting to undermine the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution. I am speaking, of course, about the House-passed language that was included in Senate amendment No. 4575, which I opposed earlier today.

The language in the amendment unfairly requires the State of Texas to maintain fiscal year 2011 levels of State funding for elementary, secondary, and higher education spending for 2 additional fiscal years in order to receive a portion of the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund. This places an undue burden on a single State that is likely an unconstitutional condition on funding in violation of the Supreme Court's holding in South Dakota v. Dole.

Specifically, the language conditions Texas's receipt of Federal education dollars on an event that would violate the Texas Constitution. The Texas Governor cannot make the required assurances because the Texas legislature, not the Governor, decides how to spend the State's money. Any attempt by the Governor to bind the legislature's hands would be ineffective because that office lacks the power, and the mere attempt could violate the Texas Constitution. Nor can the Governor make an assurance regarding the actions of a future legislature, as the amendment requires. Such conditions, which cannot be lawfully met, can have no possible relation to the Federal interest in education spending.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the State's share of the $10 billion is estimated to be over $830 million. By ensuring that the State will not be able to access these funds, the Texas provisions effectively create a significant and substantial amount of discretionary funds available to the Secretary of Education. The practical effect of this petty, partisan gamesmanship will be to saddle future generations of Texans with a debt for which they are unlikely to receive any benefit.

This was a shameful, irresponsible exercise in raw political power. Texas students deserve more than to be political pawns. Forcing the legislature and Governor to choose between violating the Texas Constitution or accepting Federal dollars is an abuse of Federal power and is a clear threat to the separation of powers. A State's elected government should not be made subjects of political appointees and unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Education.

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