Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No | Negative | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Neutral |
Currently only Dallas is authorized to use these public improvement districts. HB 2688 would expand the use of public improvement districts to Austin, Arlington, and San Antonio. The goal of these districts is to attract and increase tourism through the pooling of money, based on hotel occupancy, to improve the aesthetics of the city.
Private
businesses seeking to increase tourism to benefit their profits are free
to form their own voluntary associations to achieve this end. Any
issues arising from businesses not wishing to participate or carry their
fair share is a problem that the market can handle without municipal
intervention. Therefore, creating public improvement districts is an
unnecessary expansion of local government that would interfere with the
free market. We do not support this legislation.