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TX has a lot going for it. According to the census bureau [0], lots of people are finding opportunities there (nearly half of the 15 cities in the link are ther

TX has a lot going for it. According to the census bureau [0], lots of people are finding opportunities there (nearly half of the 15 cities in the link are there). It helps that there's no (state) income tax [1]. It's a right-to-work state [2], I tend to favor that but YMMV. Lastly, while some areas are seeing looming bankruptcies of major municipalities [3], Texas is seeing surpluses. Yes, some of this is oil, but that's ignoring a host of other factors. -------------------- [0] http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-117.html http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax#States_with_no_individual_income_tax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax#States_with_no... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law#U.S._states_with_right-to-work_laws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-to-work_law#U.S._states_w... [3] http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/15/ten-california-cities-in-distress/2076217/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/15/ten-cal...

_delirium 13y ago
Is there a decent estimate of what proportion of the TX state budget comes from oil & gas? One number I can find is that oil & gas direct extraction taxes amount to 15% of the state budget ($7 billion out of $47 billion). But that's a lower bound, since the oil & gas sector also generates considerable additional tax revenue, through corporate income taxes, sales taxes, hotel taxes, etc. Besides good fortune, though, TX did make two good oil & gas decisions that CA didn't, one on purpose and one accidentally: #1, on purpose, to actually have an oil & gas severance tax, like Alaska and Wyoming, but unlike California, which foolishly levies no tax on extraction; and #2, accidentally, to keep some large oil reserves publicly owned, and put them in the hands of the University of Texas system (accidentally because UT was given huge tracts of ranch land before it was known there was oil on it).

_delirium 13y ago

Is there a decent estimate of what proportion of the TX state budget comes from oil & gas? One number I can find is that oil & gas direct extraction taxes amount to 15% of the state budget ($7 billion out of $47 billion). But that's a lower bound, since the oil & gas sector also generates considerable additional tax revenue, through corporate income taxes, sales taxes, hotel taxes, etc. Besides good fortune, though, TX did make two good oil & gas decisions that CA didn't, one on purpose and one accidentally: #1, on purpose, to actually have an oil & gas severance tax, like Alaska and Wyoming, but unlike California, which foolishly levies no tax on extraction; and #2, accidentally, to keep some large oil reserves publicly owned, and put them in the hands of the University of Texas system (accidentally because UT was given huge tracts of ranch land before it was known there was oil on it).