Since coming to Austin, State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Canton) has been a leading conservative voice. Replacing liberal Republican Bob Duell in the primary two years ago, Hall quickly proved that he was in fact the “right Bob for the job” and served a key role in the fiery freshman class that delivered substantial conservative reforms.

Now, Hall is putting another target in his sights: corporate welfare.

This week, Hall filed a trio of bills that would eliminate some of the state’s most egregious subsidy programs:

SB 99 would eliminate the Music, Film, Television, and Multimedia Office in the office of the governor along with other incentives for media productions. Previous reviews have shown that doing so could save the state nearly $5 million per biennium.

SB 100 would defund the Texas Enterprise Fund, a program criticized by taxpayers for picking winners and losers in the marketplace. To make matters worse, poor accountability measures in the program resulted in the fund often picking losers with political ties to decision makers.

SB 105 would abolish several corporate welfare trust funds that currently hand taxpayer money to organizations like WWE and NASCAR.

Hall says the legislation is needed to stop government intervention in the free market and end crony deals.

“Citizens are sick and tired of the government picking winners and losers in the market place,” said Hall. “Government needs to focus on its basic responsibilities, not on taking millions in taxes from middle class families and giving it straight to powerful, politically connected corporations.”

Hall isn’t alone in wanting to end subsidy programs and government handouts to businesses. At the Texas Republican Convention in May, Republican delegates voted overwhelmingly with more than 94 percent supporting a platform plank calling for an end to the practice.

Cary Cheshire

Cary Cheshire is the executive director of Texans for Strong Borders, a no-compromise non-profit dedicated to restoring security and sovereignty to the citizens of the Lone Star State. For more information visit StrongBorders.org.

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