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Gov. Perry Closer To Getting His $1.8 Billion In Businesses Tax Breaks

Ryan Poppe | Texas Public Radio
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TPR News

A bill that provides $630 million worth of tax incentives has already made its way out of the House, and is now heading to the Senate floor for a vote.

The bill has been altered from its original wording, streamlining those benefiting down to one business group.

"I explained to my colleagues as we’ve been trying to work through this in the last couple of days: It’s almost like I have to pick which three of my kids gets something and which do not. It’s almost impossible," said Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, who is carrying the bill in the Senate.

The bill provides permanent tax relief for businesses making $1 million or less in total annual revenue.

Hegar attempted to quiet the fears of some business groups who felt left out by the change, but Roger Soap, who is with the American Association of Professional Landmen, was not pleased by the revision of the bill:

"I think what Senator Hegar proposes is a good step. However, in our industry we are being taxed on our gross income - we are not able to deduct what we pay independent subcontractors - so the $1 million cap does us no good. We handle a lot of dollars but we are not able to keep most of them," Soap said.

Hegar said 143,000 small businesses would be exempt from paying the franchise tax, and for the next two years all of the 800,000 businesses in Texas will benefit from a 5 percent tax rate reduction.

Should the bill pass the Senate,  it will then go to a conference committee before makings its way to the governor's desk.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.