March 20, 2020      7:00 PM
SB: Bipartisan outcry grows for sales tax relief for Texas bars and restaurants caught in the middle of COVID-19 response
Comptroller Hegar’s position is reasonable: Local entities cannot be without revenue during a public health crisis; Gov. Abbott should perhaps explain why backfilling local governments could not be done through a strategic withdrawal from the Economic Stabilization Fund
More lawmakers from both
parties are coming together asking Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar to waive
penalties for bars and restaurants facing the choice of paying sales taxes today
or potentially laying off workers as they comply with public health safety measures
in response to COVID-19.
Rep. James White,
R-Hillister, joined his colleagues overnight writing
a letter asking Hegar to offer some kind of relief. Maybe
Hegar isn’t the one who should be getting the letters and calls, though. The Big
3 – Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Speaker Dennis
Bonnen – are primarily responsible for moving state money when the Legislature
is not in session through their roles on the Legislative Budget Board.
Here’s what White said:
By Scott Braddock
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