Resist the Temptation
What to Know: A Texas school district has rejected a tax break for a planned solar farm. With the Chapter 313 tax breaks set to end soon, more and more developers are trying to cash in before it goes away.
The TPPF Take: These Chapter 313 tax breaks are costly and unnecessary.
“At best, these incentives do not work; at worst, they can be harmful,” says TPPF’s Carine Martinez. “If the problem is that property taxes in Texas are too high, then they are too high for everyone and this is the problem we should fix instead of giving tax breaks to a select few businesses.”
For more on Chapter 313 agreements, click here.
California Exodus
What to Know: More and more businesses are leaving California for more business-friendly states—such as Texas.
The TPPF Take: There’s no mystery here; people seek greater freedom and opportunity—for themselves and their businesses.
“When coupled with California’s 46th-place ranking for state and local taxes in 2022 — New York was 50 — its heavy regulatory compliance burden, its business-crushing response to the Covid-19 virus, and crime with no consequences thanks to district attorneys in Los Angeles and San Francisco, it’s no wonder inbound movers from other states plummeted 38 percent while Californians fleeing out of state increased 12 percent last year,” says TPPF’s Chuck DeVore.
For more on California, click here.
Learning the Lesson
What to Know: The evidence is in, and school closures were a disaster—especially for poor and minority children.
The TPPF Take: The harm done by school closures won’t be fully known for years.
“Without foundational knowledge, struggling students pass from 8th grade to high school woefully unprepared,” says TPPF’s Michael Barba. “It’s not their fault, but it is their problem: 93% of students who fall behind never catch up. The test scores released this week confirm what parents have been shouting from the rooftops.”
For more on learning loss, click here.