Texas Conservative Lobbyist News: Keeping the Texas Economy Working
The following is a digest of an article that originally appeared in the Star Telegram. The Texas Lobby Group is posting this summary as a public service to encourage community discourse among the citizenry, Texas lobbyists, Texas politicians, Texas government officials, and other interested parties as we approach the 83rd Legislative Session for the state of Texas.
Texas holds a strong lead economically as of the last decade or so. NAFTA’s approval of trade with Mexico and Canada gave the state it’s lead over California. Business thrives in Texas in part because of low taxes and regulations, which provides a flexible climate for big and small businesses alike. Texas is the United State’s top exporter of manufactured goods, and manufacturing accounts for approximately 15% of the state’s economy. Our Louisiana and Oklahoma neighbors are trying to emulate these results by reforming their tax and regulatory laws. This could prove to be serious competition if Texas doesn’t maintain it’s competitive edge.
“Louisiana (recently) passed initiatives to land major industrial relocation projects and embraced new tax policies to attract private investment. Oklahoma is embracing tougher tort reform measures to keep more dollars and businesses on its side of the Red River.”
While Texas has the advantage in business presently, it’s important to strive to maintain it. It’s important to maintain and build upon the manufacturing sector, reinforcing present strengths. It’s essential to provide jobs for citizens, and keep unemployment low. With jobs available, goods and services thrive and the people have the means by which to purchase them. It’s a delicate trend. In a suffering economy with moderately high unemployment rates, it’s even more difficult to keep things balanced. Texas is doing well compared to most other states economically, but it’s still struggling.
It is suggested that lawmakers could significantly aid the manufacturing sector by introducing a sales tax exemption for equipment designated for research and development. This field produces many high paying jobs. It’s important also to maintain the low business tax to keep the businesses we have, and to draw more in. Texas has long been an attractive place for business. The population of the state is growing rapidly, as are large and small businesses. It is also suggested that Texas should work to improve the state’s education system for trade jobs. With such a plethora of these jobs, there are not enough skilled trade specialists out there.
Read the original story here.