Financial Firms Fail To Meet Job Targets

For Perry — a two-term Republican governor who has never lost an election — job creation is crucial in his re-election bid against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. He uses the Texas Enterprise Fund and its sister account, the Emerging Technology Fund, to try to bring more businesses and jobs to the state.

Perry frequently says Texas' economy is faring better than many other states because of the conservative financial approach of his administration. Lately, the national recession has been creeping into Texas, and on Thursday the state reported that Texas' unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 percent in February, up from 4.5 percent a year earlier.

Perry wants the Legislature this year to replenish the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Emerging Technology Fund with $260 million and $203 million, respectively.

The two funds have been under scrutiny at the state Capitol. The House passed a measure this week that would open the enterprise fund to small businesses and ban enterprise fund money from being used for executive bonuses. And House Appropriations Committee members questioned the way a $50 million grant from the emerging tech fund was given to the Texas A&M System after the money was transferred by Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and then-Speaker Tom Craddick from the enterprise fund.