Craddick Appointees to the Business Tax Advisory Committee
Speaker of the Texas House Tom Craddick appointed Representatives Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) and Myra Crownover (R-Denton) to the Business Tax Advisory Committee today. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst will appoint two Senators. Comptroller Susan Combs will serve on the Committee as will 14 Texas citizens.
The business tax was created in 2006 during the Special Session of the 79th Legislature. The goal of the business tax was to generate revenue so the State Legislature could buy down property taxes from local school districts. In reality, the Legislature expanded the existing franchise tax which Republicans fought for 15 years to remove from law after Governor Ann Richards signed it into law.
I would have preferred to have Representatives John Smithee and Ken Paxton as members of the Business Tax Advisory Committee as both of these fine men serve on the Ways and Means Committee and have studied this issue in depth. Also, both of these men voted against the expansion of the franchise tax.
It should be noted the bill (HB 3, 79S3) that expanded the franchise tax was passed 80-68, by a Legislature controlled by Republicans. The Republicans that voted against the business tax were:
Dwayne Bohac (Houston)
Carter Casteel (New Braunfels)
Linda Harper-Brown (Irving)
Will Hartnett (Dallas)
Harvey Hilderbran (Kerrville)
Charlie Howard (Sugar Land)
Bryan Hughes (Mineola)
Delwin Jones (Lubbock)
Bill Keffer (Dallas)
Jodie Laubenberg (Rockwall)
Ken Paxton (Frisco)
Debbie Riddle (Houston)
John Smithee (Amarillo)
Robert Talton (Pasadena)
Of these Republicans, Carter Casteel and Delwin Jones are RINO's and were voting against Craddick, not against raising taxes.
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3 comments:
Woo boy, Myra Crownover. She's such a stalwart on fiscal issues and all.
/sarcasm
In all fairness, when you say the business tax was expanded, you leave out an important detail - it was expanded to include businesses that were exploiting a loophole to avoid paying the tax. The benefit, however, is that despite more businesses being included in the tax regime, the overall rate dropped from 4.5% to 1% and the small business exemption has been raised to firms making $600k or less. Taxes suck but businesses must contribute to schools. They are the ones that benefit from having a well funded school system. All we need now is greater accountability in our public schools.
To anonymous:
We needed to put better accountability measures in place for schools before we ever considered new funding strategies, and certainly before any more money was allocated to schools. But we're in a never-ending cycle now, with local property tax appraisals skyrocketing, schools still asking for ever bigger bond packages that drive future taxpayers into unimaginable tax-supported debt, and of course a business tax that discourages small businesses.
Until such time that our ISDs and other local gov't entities can be made to tighten their belts, no taxes should be expanded or increased.
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