After 20 years, the state’s most lucrative corporate welfare program comes to an end.
Oil and gas, manufacturing, and other industries have been clear that Chapter 313 must continue, but in an unexpected twist, the program ran into heavy resistance this legislative session. AP Photo/Eric Gay
After 20 years, the state’s most lucrative corporate welfare program comes to an end.
Oil and gas, manufacturing, and other industries have been clear that Chapter 313 must continue, but in an unexpected twist, the program ran into heavy resistance this legislative session. AP Photo/Eric Gay
Justin Miller
Jun 9, 2021, 6:00 am CST
In 2001, state lawmakers and business leaders warned that the state’s high property tax rates were discouraging corporations from locating big projects in Texas. At the time,
The program’s returns were also unimpressive. If measured by job creation, the program cost the state at least $211,600 per job, according to a calculation by the Houston Chronicle.
“No one had really questioned this program,” said Greco, of Central Texas Interfaith. The reauthorization was a once-in-a-decade chance to challenge it. “We knew in our guts that the program was just a blank check, but we also are very sober about the realities of the Texas legislature.”
In Texas, the legislative sessions last only five months, every two years. The clock was ticking.
An unlikely coalition that emerged from across the political spectrum including the right-wing Texas Public Policy Foundation, the progressive Every Texan, and Greco’s group, which does nonpartisan political work among religious groups began to organize against the subsidy.
Intel nearly built a massive chip fabrication plant near Fort Worth in 1991, but the tech giant instead picked Arizona because Texas property taxes were too high. Two years later, Texas lawmakers reacted by creating Chapter 313, also known as the Texas Economic Development Act, to offer property tax breaks to major companies that locate new facilities in the state.
Since then, oil refineries, petrochemical factories and even the upcoming Tesla plant outside Austin have enjoyed massive breaks on their property taxes thanks to the program. Today, Chapter 313 agreements account for almost a billion dollars in tax breaks for some of the largest companies in Texas.
A Texas economic incentive offers massive tax breaks to companies, but its renewal isn t a done deal
Texas Tribune
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Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune
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Intel nearly built a massive chip fabrication plant near Fort Worth in 1991, but the tech giant instead picked Arizona because Texas property taxes were too high. Two years later, Texas lawmakers reacted by creating Chapter 313, also known as the Texas Economic Development Act, to offer property tax breaks to major companies that locate new facilities in the state.