Small Business
Greg Abbott (R)
Abbott has consistently leaned on tax and regulatory cuts rather than direct lending as his small-business strategy. Texas's franchise-tax no-tax-due threshold sits at $2.47 million in revenue, exempting most small businesses outright, and Abbott signed an across-the-board 25% franchise-tax reduction earlier in his tenure; in 2025 he signed HB 346, which permanently exempts veteran-owned businesses from franchise tax and filing fees and creates an expedited filings track. HJR 1/HB 9 (Meyer/Bettencourt) raised the business personal-property tax exemption from $2,500 to $125,000 — an almost 5,000% increase — and the legislature overhauled the franchise-tax R&D credit to make it refundable for small filers and carry forward 20 years. On pandemic-era response, Abbott opposed federal vaccine mandates on businesses (Executive Order GA-40) and pushed early reopening through 2020-21. He has not pushed a state-funded small-business loan program.
Gina Hinojosa (D)
Hinojosa's signature business-law accomplishment is HB 3488 (85R, 2017), which she authored to create Texas Public Benefit Corporations — a corporate form that legally allows directors to weigh social good alongside shareholder return — and which became Chapter 776 of the Acts of 2017. On the campaign trail she frames her economic priorities as 'supporting small business and working Texans' in contrast to 'incentivizing private equity and corporate giants.' She has publicly discussed the minimum wage in Texas — which remains tied to the federal $7.25 floor — and has appeared on Fox 26 Houston to support raising it, though she has not committed to a specific dollar figure or veto threat as governor. She has not staked out a detailed position on the Texas franchise tax (margin tax) threshold or rate. Her public-benefit-corporation work and her PAC-money refusal are her clearest signals on small-business posture.
Sources
- Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor, official campaign priorities page, accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Office of the Governor, 'Governor Abbott signs laws to bolster Texas small businesses.' (full list)
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, 'Franchise tax exemptions FAQ,' accessed May 2026. (full list)
- Reed Smith, 'Texas Legislature overhauls the franchise tax R&D credit,' analysis, 2025. (full list)
- Texas Legislature Online, HB 3488 (85R, 2017), Gina Hinojosa author — creating Texas Public Benefit Corporations. (full list)
- Gina Hinojosa, 'A public benefit for corporations that give back,' TribTalk, April 12, 2017. (full list)
- Fox 26 Houston, Gina Hinojosa interview discussing the Texas minimum wage, raising the federal floor, and small-business posture. (full list)