| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Negative | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Neutral |
Relating to the creation of the Texas music incubator rebate program to provide for rebates of a portion of the mixed beverage gross receipts taxes collected from certain music venues.
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB2806, Committee
Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($20,200,000) through the biennium ending
August 31, 2021.
HB 2806 would create the Texas Music Incubator account as a dedicated account in general revenue to be funded by mixed beverage gross receipts taxes and sales tax receipts attributable to the sale of beer and wine. The purpose of the fund is to provide eligible music venues and music festival promoters with full or partial rebates of those taxes in their efforts to support and continue to bring to local communities live music.
Texas Action recommends opposing HB 2806 because it violates our principles of limited government and free market. The state should not be providing incentives for music venues to provide more live music performances. If the concern is that music venues and festivals are disappearing due to increased operating costs, then a better limited government solution would be to lower taxes associated with these operating costs across the board, rather than establish a rebate program. The best economic model is one in which taxes are low rate and broad based, and regulation is light, sensible, and transparent.