money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus program to spur the economy and assist cash-strapped states.

Perry also likes to trumpet that his state balanced its budget in 2009, while keeping billions in its rainy day fund.

But he couldn’t have done that without a lot of help from … guess where? Washington.

Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.

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At the Texas GOP Convention, back in June:

PERRY: Well I think it’s really important that the people of the state recognize that good, conservative, fiscal discipline was in place in January of 2009 when we had that legislative session, and kicking off and finishing five months later, and we left eight-plus billion dollars in a Rainy day fund. We didn’t spend all the money. A very, very important principle. Don’t spend all the money.

We saw the dark clouds that were forming on the horizon because of the Bailout and the Stimulus dollars that were being spent, and we realized that that was going to be a travesty — a train wreck.