Keep Texas Open for Business Coalition
Discriminatory legislation can only hurt our state, not move it forward. Texas needs to protect its tourism industry to be able to attract business and investment, and provide a small business environment where businesses can thrive. Legislation is being proposed to amend the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which can only have significant losses for Texas businesses.
Keep Texas Open for Business Coalition
- The Coalition released an economic impact study that indicated Texas could face an $8.5 billion decline in the state's GDP and lose 185,000 jobs if proposed bills are passed by the Texas Legislature.
Keep Texas Open for Business opposes legislation that amends the existing Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and opens the law up to broader interpretations and potentially costly litigation, which could have lasting economic impacts on the State of Texas. The study was conducted by St. Edward's University and commissioned by the Texas Association of Business (TAB).
Chris Wallace, President of TAB said, "Discriminatory legislation is bad for business. Our economic study points to the dire and far-reaching impact of discriminatory legislation on Texas businesses, our communities, families, jobs and the larger state economy. We must Keep Texas Open for Business. We cannot slam the door on the Texas Miracle of openness, competitiveness, economic opportunity and innovation."
The economic impact study found that passage of discriminatory legislation could:
- Result in significant economic losses in Texas' GDP, with estimates ranging from $964 million to $8.5 billion;
- Lead to significant Texas job losses with estimates as high as 185,000 jobs statewide; and
- Drastically impact Texas' convention and tourism industry, which has a direct economic impact of $69 billion, generates more than $6 billion in state and local tax revenues, and directly and indirectly supports more than 1.1 million Texas jobs.
