State lawmakers are entering their final month of the legislative session in Austin, and business leaders in North Texas are coming together to list the priorities where they would like the legislature to keep its focus. The regular session began January 10 and will end May 29.
"The [Regional Chamber Coalition] really has spent countless hours advocating at the Capitol," says North Texas Commission President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Wallace. "They're educating stakeholders within our communities about the importance of policies addressing our regional challenges, typically in three buckets: workforce readiness, infrastructure and housing attainability."
The North Texas Commission listed five priorities for lawmakers at the beginning of the session:
SUPPORT: Efforts to increase workforce supply & resiliency by increasing funding for public education (PK-12) and higher education institutions.
SUPPORT: Increased supply of health care workers and increasing access to care, particularly mental health resources.
SUPPORT: Legislation that maintains local decision-making authority.
SUPPORT: Maintaining our reputation as a business-friendly state by providing small business resources and continuing the use of economic development incentive tools to enhance job creation and investment in Texas.
SUPPORT: Ensuring reliable and sustainable infrastructure development, including the electric grid, domestic energy production, mobility, water resources, and broadband.
On education, Wallace says chambers of commerce work with lawmakers to ensure the state can continue attracting new business by making sure those businesses can hire a skilled workforce.
"The number one challenge of our state is our workforce pipeline," Wallace says. "The volume of those future workers is in our public schools."
"We know one of the reasons companies are coming to the area is good, quality education pre-k through 12," says Frisco Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Tony Felker.
Felker says the skills employers need are evolving, so education must evolve to meet those needs.
"We have the ability to continue working with that workforce, continue to develop them not only with new skills that are out there but retraining," he says. "We're very cognizant of working with our four year institutions and our community colleges on how we can provide those skills and best prepare the workforce for the future."
The University of North Texas has opened its first building at a campus in Frisco. Felker says UNT has worked with local businesses to find what skills are most in demand.
"That's one of the reasons we love the new campus. They have made it a public-private partnership," he says. "Literally, they are reaching out to the business community, finding out what they need in the workforce they're not getting now and quickly developing curriculum."
He says the UNT System will continue working with businesses and the Frisco Chamber through advisory groups to adjust curriculum as needs change.
On infrastructure, the North Texas Commission says the state legislature must prepare now for continued population growth in the future. The Texas Demographic Center predicts the state's population will increase from 30 million now to 47.4 million in 2050.
Mike Berry, interim president of the Fort Worth Chamber and president of the real estate development firm, Hillwood, says the state must invest more on infrastructure projects including roads, water supply and the power grid.
On transportation, Governor Greg Abbott and TxDOT have proposed a ten year, $100 billion dollar plan to maintain and expand highways. Berry says the additional money will help, but to properly accommodate new growth and update current transportation networks, the system will need $400 billion.
"That's a $300 billion gap that no one has identified funding for," he says.
As cars get more fuel efficient and more drivers choose electric vehicles, he says the gas tax will also generate less revenue, providing less money for TxDOT to expand and modernize roads.
Berry says North Texas has excelled with public-private partnerships along highways like 183 and Interstates 635 and 35W. Those have been rebuilt with private companies able to collect tolls in managed lanes.
Lawmakers will vote to extend Propositions One and Seven which dedicate money to TxDOT, but Berry says those will only bring $26 billion. He says the state cannot plan for the future by only extending two current funding mechanisms.
"We've got huge needs," he says. "We don't have a new vehicle to replace that gas tax funding. Then, when you look at what's happening with EVs, autonomy and all the other things that'll be put on top of our roadway infrastructure to allow these new technologies to work, that's going to require additional investment just in our road beds."
He says the state can also take action on other parts of infrastructure. Senate Bill 28 would create a "water supply fund" to look at desalination and connecting with other states to import water as Texas' population grows. Berry says Texas could save money long-term by spending more now to make repairs and prevent leaks in the system.
"If you just fix our existing infrastructure, that would go a long way toward shoring up our water supply," he says.
Berry says the state must also take action to stabilize the power grid. Senate Bill 6 would provide up to $10 billion for the construction of natural gas power plants that could generate enough electricity to power up to 7.5 million homes.
SB 6 has passed the Senate and is now the Texas House State Affairs Committee.
Berry says the state has an opportunity now to invest in its infrastructure to ensure economic growth continues long-term. He says Texas can use part of its rainy day fund, which reached $13.6 billion last year.
"In my company, if I was carrying $14 billion in excess capital on the balance sheet, I'd be under a lot of pressure to invest that," he says.
The North Texas Commission also urges passage of HB 5, which would create a similar program to Chapter 313. Chapter 313 expired at the end of 2022 and allowed school districts to provide property tax abatements to companies that relocate to their area.
HB 5 has drawn support from more than 200 chambers of commerce and economic development councils.
SB 1419 would limit the use of public money or tax abatements as incentives. Members of the commission say that measure would remove a tool that lets local governments remain competitive to draw employers. The measure was voted unanimously out of committee Monday.
"If your community's not willing to step up, or our state is not, there are other communities sharpening their pencils every single day," says Irving-Las Colinas Chief Executive Officer Beth Bowman. "Businesses want to be wanted. They don't want the regulatory hindrance that enables their competitiveness."
The North Texas Commission represents about 100 chambers of commerce in 13 counties in the area. The organization works with lawmakers to advocate for communities and provide them with people who can testify about bills.
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