SB 1057 by Whitmire: Anti-Taxpayer

SB 1057 seeks to amend current law relating to the use of certain tax revenue to enhance and upgrade qualified projects and project-associated infrastructure. SB 1057 would essentially use Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) money to build “infrastructure”. SB 1057 defines infrastructure as the George R. Brown convention center in the City of Houston. Convention centers are not infrastructure, and we should not be using infrastructure money to help Houston build convention centers. This is a bad use of tax dollars that does not comport with the core functions of state government. For these reasons, TFR opposes SB 1057.