Texas House Votes To Gut Governors Enterprise Fund To Attract Business
Just a week after Gov. Greg Abbott asked for the Texas Enterprise Fund to be re-upped to the tune of $100M, it has been gutted by the Texas House, reallocating its unspent $43M to Child Protective Services and Medicaid. The legislation passed 127-18, according to the Dallas Morning News' Bob Garrett, despite fierce opposition from a few representatives, including John Strickland from Texas' 92nd District, who blasted the method in which the legislation was passed, calling its quick vote offensive and disgusting.
“Your support of that money is essential if we are to keep Texas in the vanguard [of] new businesses in the future,” Abbott told a crowd of Dallas business leaders last week.
Since the inception of the program, Texans have spent roughly $609M on business subsidies to attract corporate business. Critics argue that money could be better spent on the states' faltering education system and crippled social services. Local Texas business leaders argue the fund gives their tax dollars to potential competitors.
