| In a quick turnaround, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday that it would not extend the deadline for the big-money Chapter 313 tax break program, after several companies sued the week before. They had argued that the state comptroller's office was unfairly blocking them from accessing the tax breaks. In the 2021 session, legislators were persuaded not to extend Chapter 313 because many of the companies securing the tax break produced few new high-paying jobs relative to the cost, even though job creation was a goal of the program. This came after a Hearst Newspapers investigation raised questions about whether it was fulfilling its goal of creating jobs and persuading companies to move to Texas instead of other states. This created a deadline of the end of 2022 for companies to access the funds, and the deadline created a land rush of applicants seeking to lock in the valuable tax breaks. "The Legislature imposed, but is not itself constrained by, the current deadline," Justice Evan A. Young wrote in the opinion. "The reason that the coach turns into a pumpkin at midnight on New Year's Eve … is because the Legislature so willed that result long ago. If the pumpkin is again to be a coach, that too must follow from the Legislature's will." Read the full story here. | 
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