By Ben Philpott, KUT News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-963385.mp3
Dallas, TX – A delegation of California lawmakers have come to Texas as part of a fact finding mission looking into why California has shed jobs over the last two years - while Texas has created them. KUT's Ben Philpott reports these two state rivals hope to make each other stronger.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has made several trips to the west coast to talk up his state's business climate. And several times over the years has been proud to announce the relocation of jobs from California to Texas. He says just because he's pushed for companies to leave California doesn't mean he wants that state to fail.
Perry: "We want California to succeed. I mean the fact is we need a strong California in this country. And that's the way that I look at this relationship. And there's still a lot we have that we can learn from California."
Republican California Assemblyman Dan Logue thinks it's his state's turn to learn a trick or two. And there's no better way to figure out why companies and jobs are leaving his state than to go ask the ones that made the move to Texas. Logue and the 18 others on bi-partisan panel also want to figure out what Texas has done right in making the state an easy move for some companies.
Logue "We're not here to really talk about the budget, the environment, tourism. We're here to talk about primarily jobs. If you don't grow the economy, everything else doesn't matter pretty much."
Business groups in and out of Texas often say California's higher taxes are one reason for the business migration. Taxes that probably won't drop dramatically while the state contends with multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls.