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Tax relief for business owners passes Texas House

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Tax relief for business owners passes Texas House


AUSTIN _ Business owners could exempt a quarter-million dollars worth of computers, furniture and other equipment from their annual taxes under legislation the Texas House overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday.

Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-University Park, brought forward the proposals that passed with 90% support in the GOP-dominated chamber. If the legislation passes the Texas Senate, voters will need to approve it in November for it to go into effect in this tax year.

The measures — House Bill 9 and House Joint Resolution 1 — are the cornerstone of House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ priority property tax reform package for the House.

The bill provides “the second largest exemption of its kind in the country and will provide substantial savings to businesses across the state,” Meyer said.

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The legislation raises the personal property tax exemption for businesses from $2,500 to $250,000 – a tenfold increase in the amount of value that businesses owners don’t have to claim on items critical to their companies’ day-to-day operations.

Items that, supporters point out, owners already paid sales tax on when they purchased them. Avoiding a second round of taxes means they can put more into their families and businesses, said Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville.

“It’ll help them provide for their children, and that’s money that goes back into the economy,” Little said. “This bill helps those small businesses ensure that they can continue to operate those small businesses by accepting things that they already paid taxes on.”

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Attempts to raise the exemption to $500,000 or a million dollars failed in floor votes.

About a dozen House members opposed the bill, arguing that local governments would have to make up the loss in revenue by raising prices for services — putting the tax cut for businesses on the backs of everyday Texans who may already struggle every day.

Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, said 82% of the businesses in Fort Worth would pay no taxes on personal business property at all if the exemption were increased to $250,000.

“This would have a huge loss to the city of Fort Worth, and it’s going to be a big burden to our taxpayers,” Collier said. “I’m trying to think of the other ways that they could make up the difference. Raising the water bill, raising garbage collection rates. These are all things that are passed on to the consumer.”

Meyer responded that if the cities can’t tighten their belts to make up for the lost revenue, that’s not the taxpayers’ problem.

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“A lot of the local taxing entities are taking in way too much money as we speak,” he said. “They are taking it from our constituents, and so that would be something that they would need to deal with. But quite frankly, they take enough from our constituents as we sit here today.”



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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users

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Texas sues Netflix for allegedly spying on kids, addicting users


Netflix was sued Monday (May 11) by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive. Ram Nabong reports.



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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data

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Texas sues Netflix, alleges platform spied on kids and collected data


The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.

Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.

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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”

The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.

NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’

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NFLX NETFLIX INC. 85.39 -2.10 -2.40%

The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.

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Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.

NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)

Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”

The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.

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FOX Business reached out to Netflix for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.



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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN

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6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN


Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.

The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.

The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.

Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.

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Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.

Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.

Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.

CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.

“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.

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The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.

US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”

CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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