Texas has a reputation for doling out cash to attract new companies and investment, but corporate welfare isn’t what it used to be in the Lone Star State.

Since 2016, the Texas Enterprise Fund — billed as the largest "deal-closing" fund in the country — has awarded just over $60 million to employers that expanded or moved here. Over the same time, the state returned almost $36 million to the fund through clawbacks and terminated contracts, according to a recent report to the 2019 Legislature.

Clawbacks and terminations are two ways to settle accounts when recipients haven’t met their commitments, which usually means they haven’t hired enough people at high-enough salaries.

Seven companies, including Sabre in Southlake, Thomson Reuters in Carrollton and Jamba Juice in Frisco, ended their deals before getting any money from the state.

What happened? Sabre and Thomson Reuters unveiled major layoffs after announcing expansion plans — deals big enough to prompt Gov. Greg Abbott to commit $5 million to one project and $1.5 million to the other.

Jamba Juice’s incentive was smaller — $800,000 from the fund — and Abbott couldn’t resist needling California on its loss.

"Nothing is sweeter than another company moving its headquarters to the Lone Star State," Abbott said in a news release.

Two years later, Jamba Juice was sold to an Atlanta company and the deal was terminated.

Walking away empty-handed from the Texas Enterprise Fund is one way to avoid the embarrassment and expense of having to pay back a state incentive, often with interest.

In the past two years, over a dozen companies terminated their contracts over performance issues, and that should give the public more confidence in the process. Apparently, business and government are getting the message: Companies have to earn your taxpayer money.

The enterprise fund was established in 2003 under former Gov. Rick Perry. In the early days, employers often received cash awards upfront, before investing in new facilities and hiring enough employees to justify the incentives.

In fact, many of the biggest recipients never submitted an application or specific job targets, according to a 2014 report from the state auditor. That audit revealed problems with oversight, accountability and transparency.

Under Abbott, new standards were enacted, including an emphasis on performance-based contracts. Now, companies must hit hiring targets before the state passes out the cash, and officials are supposed to ensure that job totals and investments are maintained.

"Both the governor's office and companies receiving grants are a lot more circumspect — and rigorous," said Bill Sproull, CEO of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce.

In general, that’s a good thing, Sproull said. The state had to tighten up the process to maintain credibility with the public, which generally is skeptical about taxpayer money going to private companies. Just as important, the program had to win over lawmakers, who must approve funding every two years.

Despite strong opposition in 2017, Abbott managed to get additional money for the enterprise fund, continuing a streak that began with its creation. Initially, Perry pushed the program as a way to close big economic development deals — an extra slice of public funding on top of property tax abatements and other local incentives.

North Texas has been a major beneficiary. Since it began, companies in the area have won 64 enterprise fund awards, almost 40 percent of the state total. Their combined value was $252 million, and the governor’s office attributed almost 16,000 local jobs to the efforts.

Many people oppose the enterprise fund, portraying it as corporate welfare or even a slush fund to reward donors and others. They also insist that most companies would invest here anyway — with or without incentives. And their minds probably won’t be changed by any improvements.

But there are others, especially lawmakers, who accept the premise behind the fund but insist on sound management and strong accountability.

"Being more aggressive about clawbacks and terminations helps alleviate concerns among that second group," said Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association in Austin.

He expects the Legislature to replenish the fund this spring, although he said it will again take some salesmanship from the governor.

Craymer understands the need to monitor performance, but it adds to a growing burden. For various incentives, companies must get approval from the governor, school districts, cities, counties and more. With higher costs for compliance, many are discounting the value of the offers.

“Texas has competitive incentives, but it’s much more bureaucratic than some other states,” Craymer said. “In terms of oversight, I’m concerned we’ve moved the needle too far.”

Nathan Jensen, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes officials don't go far enough to evaluate the deals and inform the public. Other states perform more detailed analyses on costs and benefits and release them.

Virginia, for example, concluded that tax credits for film companies returned as little as 20 cents on the dollar.

The report from the Texas Enterprise Fund has some unanswered questions, Jensen wrote in an email.

“We don’t know if these clawbacks are being applied to every company that doesn’t comply,” he said. “And we don’t know how many companies are receiving incentives that were going to come anyway.”

Perhaps so. But at least we know that some companies are getting what they deserve: nothing.