Thread by @dlavine

The original sales pitch for the big #Chapter313 tax breaks?

It sprang from a typo!!!

Today #txlege has a chance to reverse that 20-year-old error.

houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga… #txed 1/12

#txlege created #Chapter313 in 2001 on the premise that TX needed to compete more aggressively for manufacturing jobs. High property taxes represented a barrier to industrial investment, bill author Rep. Kim Brimer and his allies said. #txed 2/12

Their solution: Create a program that temporarily caps property values and shelters billions of dollars in investments from being fully taxed by #txed school districts. It's now called #Chapter313. #txlege 3/12

One of the main talking points of #Chapter313’s supporters came from a Site Selection magazine report showing that Texas had lured only three manufacturing companies in 2000.

houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga… #txlege 4/12

Supporters warned that meant Texas ranked 37th among states for new manufacturing facilities, an alarming drop after years spent near the top of that leader board.

There was a problem with that evidence, however: It was a misprint.

#txlege #Chapter313 5/12

Texas had ranked 6th or higher in the four years preceding 2001, a #txlege Senate committee report from 2016 found, and actually ranked 8th in 2001 — not 37th.

The report listed multiple examples of businesses flocking to Texas — all without #Chapter313 subsidies. #txed 6/12

“Although the error may have been in good faith, it was especially egregious in light of the fact that, not even six months earlier, Site Selection magazine published a 10-article spread about Texas,. #Chapter313 #txed #txlege 7/12

Mark Arend, editor in chief of the magazine, confirmed that the information in the chart was a mistake.

“That ‘three’ was erroneous,” Arend said.

#Chapter313 #txlege #txed 8/12

The actual number was 73 — more than six dozen manufacturing firms came to Texas in 2000, he said, securing its place as a top contender for new businesses. #Chapter313 #txed #txlege 9/12

The flawed claim that Texas ranked 37th in attracting new manufacturers should have been challenged by the industry experts who testified in favor of the legislation that created #Chapter313, the #txlege Senate report said. 10/12

But the incorrect number and ranking have been repeated dozens of times over the years in the media and by special interest groups.

houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…

#txlege #Chapter313 #txed 11/12

“The case for passing the largest economic development incentive program in the state’s history may have been based on the fear incited by a magazine’s typographical error,” the #txlege Senate report on #Chapter313 concluded.

houstonchronicle.com/news/investiga…

12/12