Rick Perry Texas Job Claims Exaggerated

Claims by Gov. Rick Perry about the number of jobs an economic development program has brought to Texas are being challenged as overstated. Perry has said the Texas Enterprise Fund has brought 59,000 jobs and $14.7 billion in investments to the state, the non-profit news organization The Texas Tribune reported in an article published by The New York Times.

However, critics say the claims are overstated and that the Texas Enterprise Fund does not have the accountability measures needed to ensure it is creating quality jobs. Perry created the program, which subsidizes companies, in 2003 and contracts require companies to meet job-creation targets and to maintain the jobs for a specific period of time, the paper reported.

Craig McDonald, executive director of Texans for Public Justice, said numbers released by the governor’s office are misleading. A report by Texans for Public Justice released last month said that amendments made to contracts between the state and the companies lowering targets or postponing deadlines “undercut the job promises,” the paper reported.