VOL 3, NO. 3
December 20200
The Public Policy Newsletter of the HEB Chamber of Commerce. Issues that impact you.
Advocacy that helps you.
2021 State Legislative Positions
After a year like no other, 2021 promises to have a very different Texas Legislative session than ever before. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said in a recent Zoom meeting with the Texas Association of Business that the Capitol would be open but in a safe way to protect legislators, staff and visitors. He further stated there would not be big crowds in the gallery and no county days, but there would be committee hearings in person.

With the key strategies of growing our members' businesses, fostering economic prosperity, amplifying the voice of business and developing our community’s future, the Hurst Euless Bedford Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors adopted critical legislative priorities for the 87th at their December meeting:

  • Keep all current economic development tools including reauthorization of Chapter 313 and funding the Governor’s Enterprise Fund.
  • Fund and protect HB3 making only minor tweaks necessary to correct unintended consequences in the original drafting of the legislation.
  •  Maintain the funding from Propositions 1 and 7 and explore creative financing methods including expanded public private partnerships to leverage state investment in critical transportation infrastructure.
  • Maximize federal funds to expand healthcare coverage and access through both the public and private market, including the use of Medicaid 1115 waivers and Local Provider Participation Funds.

The full positions can be found HERE and include issues related to economic development, workforce and talent development, public education, higher education, healthcare and infrastructure. In addition to these issues, the Chamber will continue to promote and preserve local control for cities and counties and remain sensitive to having decisions made by local elected officials.

Although we will not be traveling to Austin in a group to meet in person with our legislators, we are exploring ways to meet with them virtually on February 23 and 24.
Priorities of State Leadership
Key State leaders acknowledge that the budget and redistricting will be the main focus of the 87th Legislative session. However, other issues will be on the table.

Governor Greg Abbott in a recent meeting with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce gave his priorities for the upcoming session:

  • Make sure Texas continues on the path to prosperity, with an intense focus on getting people back to work.
  • Maintain safe communities, including preventing the defunding of police, a recommitment to funding police and addressing homelessness.
  • Make progress on resolving the healthcare challenge, ensuring that pre-existing conditions continue to be covered, liability protection for employers and the continuation of telemedicine.
 
Areas of concern mentioned by Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in the December 14 meeting with the Texas Association of Business included:
  • Addressing the shortfall in the current budget, $4.5 billion as estimated by State Comptroller Glenn Hegar
  • Protecting businesses from liability for COVID-19
  • Looking at data privacy and IT infrastructure, including broadband
  • Maintaining funding for public schools as set out in HB 3 during the last session
  • Redistricting
Reauthorization of Chapter 313 Economic Development Incentive
Chapter 313 of the Tax Code is the Texas Economic Development Act which allows school districts to offer limited and temporary property tax discounts for certain new investments projects against school taxes for maintenance and operations (the M & O portion of the school property tax rate) to encourage businesses to build in Texas. It must be renewed by the 87th Legislature or the program will expire.

Texas’ high property taxes (particularly school) means Texas cannot compete for high-value capital investments without property tax incentives, such as 313. U.S. businesses will be investing billions in new factories to build a domestic supply chain. Failure to extend Chapter 313 means Texas will unilaterally disarm itself at the worst possible time.

The HEB Chamber supports the reauthorization of Chapter 313. For more information on Chapter 313, the Texas Association of Manufacturing and Texas Taxpayers and Research Association have put together facts about the program you can access in the links below.
Reapportionment and Redistricting
Every 10 years the U.S. Constitution requires “counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.” The counting is done by the Census Bureau in years ending in zero and must, by statute, be delivered to the President by December 31st of that year. The count is then used to apportion the number of members of the House of Representatives each state has. The number of Representatives is fixed at 435 so some states will gain seats, some will lose seats based on population shifts.

Texas is the second fastest growing state and it appears that the number of Congressional Districts in Texas will grow by three to 39. In 2011, after the last census, each Texas Congressional District held about 550,000 people. Based on getting 39 seats each Congressional District this time will hold about 740,000 people. 

This year the Census Bureau has announced they will not have the numbers to the President by December 31st. That will delay getting the numbers to the state of Texas to redraw the Congressional Districts. If the Legislature cannot complete the job of redrawing the Congressional boundaries before the end of the regular session, the Governor can call a special session to complete the job.

Redistricting for judicial and state board of education districts can also be done in a special session. Redistricting for the Texas House and Senate cannot be done in a special session except under special circumstances. 

If the regular session ends without the redistricting process complete and signed by the Governor, the task of drawing the district lines falls to the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB). The board consists of the Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, Comptroller and the Land Commissioner. The LRB was created in 1951 and has convened only three time, the last time in 2001. The LRB can only deal with Texas Legislative boundaries. Only if the LRB fails to get agreement on the lines, can the Governor call a special session. 
2022
Stay tuned for more news as the 87th Texas Legislature begins and chairmanships and committee assignments are made. 

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy – wear your mask and social distance – and enjoy the Holidays – Merry Christmas!
Thank You to Our 2020 Business Advocacy Sponsors:
Sponsorship does not necessarily imply endorsement of the Chamber's policy positions.
The HEB Chamber is 4-Star accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce