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Stacking Bills
North Texas Legislative Delegation had a productive 86th session
The whole North Texas delegation to the Legislature had a significant impact on legislation that made it to the Governor's desk and into state law. Senator Jane Nelson, Chair of the critical Senate Budget Committee, again provided the leadership to craft and approve a balanced budget for Texas. She was the author of 25 bills that were approved by the House and the Senate and co-author for 8 additional bills. Not to be outdone, Senator Kelly Hancock authored 27 bills and participated on 7 others that were also approved by the House and Senate.
Senator Beverly Powell, a freshman Democratic Senator, authored 11 successful bills and co-authored another 15. The total of 26 was the most by any Freshman Senator. Senator Brian Birdwell, who has a small area in Southeast Arlington, authored 16 successful bills and participated on 11 others.
On the House side, Chairman Chris Turner, though in the minority, authored 11 successful
bills and was involved in 15 others. Representative Matt Krause participated on the most successful bills authoring 6 and participating on 38 more. Representative Bill Zedler participated in 29 successful bills, Representative Tony Tinderholt in 21 and Representative Jonathan Stickland in 11.
The Dallas Morning News published a fairly comprehensive analysis of the successes and near misses of the North Texas delegation. CLICK HERE to read their account.
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Legislature is Served
A Legislative wrap-up session with no members of the Legislature!
Most Legislative Wrap-up sessions feature members of the Legislature talking about the accomplishments and failures of the session. Those are great and serve a purpose. The Coalition of East Tarrant Chambers is taking a different approach. Let's hear from the organizations that have to live with what the Legislature did or did not do.
This wrap-up session, moderated by Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin, will feature five North Texas
groups impacted by legislation:
- Higher Education, represent by Dr. Vistasp Karbhari, President of UT Arlington
- K-12 Education, represented by Ms. Cindy Powell, CFO of the Arlington ISD
- Economic Development, represented by Mr. Craig Hulse, ED Director North Richland Hills
- Cities, represented by Mr. Peter Phillis, Deputy City Manager Finance City of Mansfield
- Counties, represented by Mr. Russell Schaffner, Assistant Tarrant County Administrator
Join the Coalition Chambers on July 12
th at the Sheraton Arlington for an informative breakfast meeting. We will begin at 8:00 am and end at 9:30 am.
CLICK HERE to register to attend or sponsor.
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Texas First
President Trump and tariffs on Mexican imports
President Trump has suspended plans to impose 5% tariffs on Mexican imports based on Mexico's commitment to place 6,000 troops on its southern border to stop the flow of Central American immigrants arriving at the U.S. border seeking asylum. He has promised to implement the tariffs if Mexico fails to actually make progress in reducing the numbers.
Texas trade relies on the strong relationships built with our international partners. Mexico is the second largest importer of goods into the U.S., totaling $346 billion in 2018. Since Texas receives more imported goods from Mexico than any other state ($107 billion in 2018), the Texas economy has more to lose by this proposed action than any other state.
Your Chamber of Commerce joined with other Texas chambers and the U.S. Chamber to ask that legislators take action to stop these tariffs from being implemented.
Please consider emailing Senator Cornyn and Senator Cruz and ask them to put Texas first and work to stop these counterproductive tariffs.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce weighs in on tariffs on Mexican goods
"Imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico is exactly the wrong move. These tariffs will be paid by American families and businesses without doing a thing to solve the very real problems at the border. Instead, Congress and the president need to work together to address the serious problems at the border." - Neil Bradley, U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer.
CLICK HERE to read the full article.
What is a tariffs and who actually pays it?
Tariffs have become a popular topic in the news in the last year. There is a wide spectrum of opinion about who actually pays tariffs that are imposed. On one end are folks who describe a tariff as a "tax on the American Consumer." On the other end of the spectrum are those who think "China or Mexico pays them." The answer, experts tell us, is not as simple as either of these slogans.
Howard Gleckman, Senior Policy Analyst for the Urban Institute lists several alternative ways tariffs impact our pocket books depending on the product and the competition. Reading this article will not make you an expert on tariffs, but it will dispel the tendency to think the answers are simple.
CLICK HERE
to read the full article.
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The Chamber's Board has five goal teams. One of these teams is Business Advocacy, and it is chaired by
Howard Shotwell. The team's responsibilities include government relations, issues identification, identifying collaboration opportunities and ensuring Chamber members always have a "seat at the table."
We welcome your support! If you would like to get involved in the Chamber's business advocacy work, contact Mary Frazior, 817-283-1521,
maryfrazior@heb.org.
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| We thank our business advocacy sponsors:
Sponsorship does not necessarily imply endorsement of the Chamber's policy positions. |
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The Chamber is 4-Star accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. |
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