By KRWG News
Texas – A Texas senator wants to cap state spending on tax breaks local school trustees can grant that help attract business relocation or expansion projects.
The bill from Sen. Steve Ogden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, would shift the power to make decisions on tax breaks from local trustees to the state comptroller. The legislation also would stop side deals allowing companies to pay school districts money outside the school finance system.
The state has covered lost revenue for the districts by increasing their state aid. Over the next two years, the estimated cost to the state for such arrangements is about $400 million.
Ogden, a Bryan Republican, tells the Austin American-Statesman that Texas can't afford to reimburse districts in the state's current budget crisis.
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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.