Texas governor woos businesses in New York

Former GOP presidential hopeful and Texas Governor Rick Perry visits New York and neighboring Connecticut next week as he continues his high-profile search for gun, drug and financial companies willing to move to his state.

This brings to four the number of states — all coincidentally headed by Democratic governors — visited by Perry, who made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination last year. During a five-day visit to the Northeast beginning Sunday, Perry will meet with unidentified “business leaders” interested in moving to Texas, according to his press office. He has made similar trips this year to California and Illinois.

“Hopefully, these trips are not just being done to score political points,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute. “It is not unheard of for states to do business recruiting trips to other states, but this just happens to be only in states with Democratic governors. If this is not just political, he would have to go to a state with a Republican governor. Maybe he will pick on poor (New Jersey Gov.) Chris Christie.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed Perry’s visit during a news conference Tuesday, saying it showed that lawmakers ought to pass the tax-free zone proposal around SUNY campuses offered by Cuomo this month.

Reacting to reports that Texas will spend $1 million on television ads aimed at businesses in New York and Connecticut, Cuomo said, “They have zero (income) taxes … that is what we are competing with … talk about a move overnight that would level the playing field. That is the tax-free zone.”

A conservative state business lobbying group said Perry’s visit shows how New York state should treat businesses.

In his ads, Perry touts the state’s low taxes and relaxed regulations.

On a web page created by Perry’s office, he also tried to entice out-of-state businesses by touting that private sector workers in Texas make lower average hourly earnings ($22.75) than those in New York ($27.80) or Connecticut ($28.14).

Texas also collects less for workers’ compensation insurance for injured workers (39 cents per $100 of covered wages) than Connecticut (84 cents) and New York (93 cents), and has much lower rates of unionization among its workforce.

Less than 6 percent of Texas workers belong to a union, compared to 14 percent in Connecticut and 23 percent in New York, according to Perry’s website.

“His aggressive recruitment campaign has ruffled feathers among governors whose big-spending, pro-union policies make Perry’s pitch more effective,” said Mike Durant, New York director of the National Federation of Independent Business. “They have a better regulatory climate, a better legal climate and a lower cost of living … you can pretty easily move to Texas, keep more of your money, expand your business and hire more people.”

Another group that routinely advocates for New York to cut taxes and regulations on businesses — the Business Council of New York State — declined comment on Perry’s efforts.

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