House Ways and Means Votes Small Business Tax Exemption

Undaunted by a multibillion dollar budget deficit, the House Ways and Means committee voted in favor of HB 262 by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville), who chairs the committee, which makes the $1 million minimum revenue floor for franchise taxes permanent.  The Houston Chronicle reports that the price tag on the bill is approximately $150 million for the next biennium.  Small businesses have been lobbying for the bill.  Without passage of the bill the small business revenue minimum drops to $600,000.  In an earlier hearing on the bill Hilderbran stated he hoped to bring other bills that would fund the $150 million, but those bills have yet to materialize.