Do local chambers of commerce support small business?

Robert Pratt

There was a headline in Lubbock’s newspaper recently which read “Chamber and Texas Association of Business are hand-in-hand with state budget priorities”.

Really? A local chamber of commerce which has as its members almost exclusively small businesses, well except for all the government and quasi-government entities which are involved and shouldn’t be, is in agreement with the Texas Association of [Big] Business?

As I’ve already explained, TAB is an active supporter of the what has been called among the worst taxes on business in the nation – the hated margins tax. TAB isn’t wrong on everything and takes right positions on some issues but it has been clear for several legislative sessions that TAB is really the TABB and its chief hired-hand Bill Hammond is not a smaller government advocate.

Much as local chambers of commerce boards have often been taken over by those who directly profit from local government spending through bond issues and other capital projects, TAB is directly at odds with Texas small businesses.

How do I know? The National Federation of Independent Business, Texas division, has as members a huge number of small businesses in Texas [24,000] and it polls them for legislative priorities. Overwhelmingly, Texas small businesses said this year that getting rid of the margins tax is the top priority. The TAB, more aptly called the Texas Association of Big-Businesses, wants to keep it.

Is Lubbock’s Chamber of Commerce and other chambers around the state in agreement or, have they all become completely unfriendly to small business – or at least to those who don’t live off local and state government spending?

Update:

See: Abbott pledges to veto any budget that does not cut taxes on business

And: Crony Capitalism Instead of Tax Cuts