#txlege may debate #HB5 - the replacement for #Chapter313 corporate subsidies - this week. Would it be an improvement?

Spoiler alert: Nope

🧵 Renewable energy projects, which got construction incentives under #Chapter313, are cut out of #HB5. With the minor exception of providing energy to batteries to power the grid. #txlege

@AustinISD is considering granting #Chapter313 tax breaks to @NXP for two new plants. Long thread follows. #txlege #txed 1/ The districts says this “would be considered a net benefit to Austin ISD, especially due to their 'Property Wealthy' status and their standing as the largest single-payer in the State's 'Recapture' system." bit.ly/3MDHuK9 #txlege #txed

AISD gets this wrong. 2/

Houston Chronicle editorial: Ordinary Texans are regularly expected to bear the burden of $billions in corporate welfare to some of America’s wealthiest companies under the false premise that we’re all benefiting somehow.

houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editor… #Chapter313 #txlege #txed 1/21 While the arrangement is sold as a way to lure new business to Texas and create well-paying jobs, a Chronicle investigation, Unfair Burden, revealed how #Chapter313, the state’s biggest tax incentive program is a wasteful boondoggle.

houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editor… #txlege #txed 2/21

Texas’ Largest Corporate Welfare Program Is Leaving Companies Flush and School Districts Broke

#Chapter313 program offers steep discounts on property taxes to attract big industrial projects that are supposed to pay off over the long term.

texasobserver.org/texas-largest-… #txlege 1/9 But by the time these projects return to the tax rolls, much of that value has disappeared. #txlege created the #Chapter313 program 20 years ago in response to fears that high property taxes were preventing corporations from pursuing large-scale projects in Texas. #txed 2/9

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

The Texas Public Policy Foundation and Every Texan release a joint statement regarding extension of the #Chapter313 program of school property tax abatements. These tax breaks do not deliver the promised benefits, shift school funding costs, and waste tax dollars. #txlege 1/10 “Texas is fortunate to not need #Chapter313 incentives to persuade companies to locate here. Research and experience show that abatements are an unnecessary and wasteful perk and companies would have come to Texas regardless. #txlege #txed 2/10

A #Chapter313 renewal would require major revisions: The contracts should be negotiated and governed by economic development experts. Mandate more independent auditing for compliance.... expressnews.com/opinion/commen… #txlege #txed 1/6 Only approve the select few #Chapter313 agreements that truly require the tax abatement to lure them to Texas. Eliminate job-creation waivers... #txlege #txed 2/6

So all this I hear about #Chapter313 payments to school districts? Who wins and who loses? #txlege #txed 1/6 If a company just paid its fair share of school taxes then, because local property tax revenue would go up, state aid would go down (or recapture increase), and the district revenue per student would be unchanged. That’s the basic rule of school finance equity. #txlege #txed 2/6