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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Neighboring cities often compete with each other for |
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business investment, offering cost reduction incentives to recruit |
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individual firms or developers rather than collaborating at the |
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regional level to create the conditions for sustained economic |
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growth; and |
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WHEREAS, Striving to foster job and tax revenue growth, |
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cities use tools such as the popular 4A/4B economic development |
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sales tax to fund incentives for businesses; unfortunately, |
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unhealthy competition reduces the value of incentive packages by |
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diluting the free market concept; a competitive, incentive-driven |
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approach focuses on local, short-term gains, often to the detriment |
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of the important development assets that allow a region to prosper |
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over the long term; and |
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WHEREAS, Employment and business activity extend across |
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municipal boundaries to impact regional development patterns and |
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the location of future growth; when cities fail to coordinate their |
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efforts, they often intensify uneven investment in |
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neighborhoods--for example, promoting the creation of major job |
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centers at a distance from affordable housing and thereby |
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contributing to traffic congestion, environmental problems, and |
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other symptoms of sprawl; not only do these side effects negatively |
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affect current residents, but they make the region less appealing |
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to the very businesses the incentives are designed to attract; and |
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WHEREAS, Research shows that access to an educated and |
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skilled workforce is generally more crucial to employers than the |
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availability of tax abatements and that individuals often choose |
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quality of life over job prospects when deciding where to locate; a |
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city undermines the regional coordination required to develop human |
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capital and the quality of life essential to retaining that human |
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capital when it adopts a localized, reactive, incentive-driven |
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approach that emphasizes short-term goals over comprehensive |
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planning; and |
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WHEREAS, Regional coordination is now more important than |
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ever, as high-growth industries tend to be highly mobile and are |
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frequently the target of intense competition on the global level; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, In order to compete for business investment in an |
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increasingly complicated global marketplace, while maintaining the |
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quality of life that fosters long-term prosperity, neighboring |
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cities should avoid bidding against each other for firms and |
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development and coordinate their actions within a comprehensive |
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planning framework at the regional level; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby encourage cities to promote long-term economic development |
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and job growth by working together on the regional level to attract |
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and retain business investment. |