Chuck DeVore, Vice President for Policy, said, “The Texas Public Policy Foundation applauds the Governor’s efforts to reduce the state’s tax burden on Texans and put the state in the best position possible to compete nationally. While other large states like California, Illinois, and New York are fixated on ways to raise taxes and fees of all kinds, Texas, led by principled conservatives, has again shown why it’s leading the nation in job creation and opportunity. The Lone Star State understands the value of people and their pocketbooks.”

 

“Under the Governor’s four-point plan, Texas small business owners and entrepreneurs, suffering under the weight of the state’s troubled franchise tax, would see substantial relief both in terms of compliance and liability,” said Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy, “Among the features of the Governor’s plan to make the franchise tax friendlier are a rate reduction, a permanent $1 million small-business deduction for all businesses under $20 million in total revenue, a more attractive incentive to use the EZ form, and a one-time deduction for businesses fleeing other high-tax states to the LoneStar State.”

 

“No area of the Texas Tax Code, besides the property tax, is in need of reform like the franchise tax,” continued Heflin, “We think that the Governor’s tax relief package is right on target and, when paired with other substantial tax reductions such as a cut in the sales tax, we stand ready to help these ideas move forward through the legislative process to lighten the load for Texas taxpayers.”

 

The Honorable Chuck DeVore is the Vice President for Policy at the Texas PublicPolicy Foundation. He served six years in the California Assembly and is the author of “The Texas Model: Prosperity in the Lone Star State and Lessons for America.”

 

The Honorable Talmadge Heflin is Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Heflin served 11 terms in theTexas House of Representatives and chaired the House Appropriations Committee in 2003, leading the Texas Legislature’s successful efforts to close a $10 billion budget deficit without a tax increase.

 

The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.

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