New York Politicians Learn Valuable Economic Development Lessons from Texas Governor Greg Abbott
On a visit with The Post this week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered a striking lesson on economic development.
If only New York pols could learn from it.
Turns out, “economic development” in the Lone Star State means actually developing the economy — not trading taxpayer subsidies for campaign contributions.
Texas, Abbott explained, lures economically active companies with a variety of broad-based goodies — like zero personal and corporate income taxes.
By contrast, New York’s top combined state and local income-tax rate, nearly 15%, is the nation’s highest.
This summer, Abbott cut property taxes by $18 billion; Gov. Kathy Hochul raised taxes by $1.1 billion on businesses, just two years after a $4 billion income-tax hike.
Abbott says Texas’ “regulatory environment” is “reasonable and predictable.”
And when Elon Musk sought to build his near mile-long Gigafactory in 18 months, Texas sped up the permit process to make it happen.
In New York, Hochul and progressives keep saddling firms with ever-more-ludicrous new requirements — employment mandates (like the minimum wage), Green New Deal-type standards and other onerous rules.
Albany’s idea of economic development is showering billions on special interests, campaign donors and assorted political allies.
It dumped $1 billion on a solar plant in Buffalo in an infamous deal (ironically enough, also invovling Musk, but with far less payoff) the Buffalo Billion (Boondoggle), that produced more criminal scandals than economic development.
It’s handed out billions to the film and TV industry, apparently on the theory that no one would want to film in iconic New York City without a bribe.
This year, Albany upped that outrageous $420 million-a-year subsidy to a truly sick $700 million.
Some of the state’s “investments” have virtually nothing to do with economic development: Wealthy Zip codes get checks for parks, splash pads, turf fields, etc.
As the Empire Center has flagged, the state spent $125,000 for “an educational oyster garden” in Queens, $350,000 for dog runs, $15 million for an (upstate!) film hub that (natch) flopped, $300,000 to move a barn . . .
Back in 2006, Gov. George Pataki gave money to a cheese museum, even after bashing just such help for another cheese museum.
Abbott notes that Texas’ economy is among the largest (the eighth-biggest, worldwide) and fastest-growing in America. His state’s coffers are flush with cash.
New York has seen big corporations leave — and it’s facing monster budget gaps for the coming years.
It’s not hard to explain the difference.
