A Texas economic incentive offers massive tax breaks to companies, but its renewal isn t a done deal
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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.
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
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.
Texas weighs punishing companies that divest from fossil fuels
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A Texas state senator wants state pension funds to divest from companies that boycott fossil-fuel investments.
The Texas Senate is considering a bill that would punish companies that divest from fossil-fuel companies by requiring the state s pension plans and investment funds to divest from those companies.
Senate Bill 13, introduced Thursday by lead sponsor Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell, would require state pension plans and investment funds to stop investing in companies that boycott energy companies.
The bill calls for the state s comptroller to prepare and maintain, and provide to each state governmental entity, a list of all companies that boycott energy companies. Those companies will then be warned by the state funds that they re on this list and have 90 days to amend their positions. If after 90 days these companies do not change their positions, then the state funds shall
Tomlinson: Texas must work to retain crown as biggest exporting state By Chris Tomlinson, Staff writer
If Texas were a country …
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At least once a week, I read that phrase in some report or another to express the size and importance of the state’s economy. But it’s a lousy premise, because if we broke out every country’s states and provinces, especially China’s, Texas’s ranking would drop pretty quick in comparison.
The Lone Star is globally important without skewing the statistics and could become more so if we make the right investments.
Texas brought in more revenue from exports than any other state in 2020 for the 19th consecutive year, according to the Census Bureau. Our exports were worth $279 billion compared to $156 billion from California and $61.9 billion from New York.
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