VOL 3, NO. 4
February 2021
The Public Policy Newsletter of the HEB Chamber of Commerce. Issues that impact you. Advocacy that helps you.
Governor Makes Chamber Priority Issue an Emergency
Governor’s State of the State Speech
On February 1st, Governor Greg Abbott gave his State of the State speech via live video. He reflected on 2020 and thanked health care workers, food service & grocery workers, truck drivers & farmers for working through the pandemic, and he predicted a bright future for the state. 
Emergency Items
During his remarks, the Governor identified five emergency items that the legislature will be able to consider before the 60th day of the session on March 12th including:

  • Expanding rural broadband access
  • Liability protection from COVID-related lawsuits
  • Preventing local defunding of police
  • Bail reform
  • Election integrity

Expanding Rural Broadband Access
While 88% of broadband deserts are in rural Texas, there are lower income areas in cities in the Metroplex where providers have not installed towers because they are economically unprofitable. Rates for broadband are often beyond the ability to pay of many low-income city dwellers. Texas is one of six states without a plan to extend broadband into every census tract in the state.

Being identified as an emergency by the Governor allows bills to be heard in committee, debated on the floor and passed within the first 60-days of the legislative session. Non-emergency bills can be introduced, but not debated during the first 60-days of a session.

Governor Abbott states, “From medicine to education to business, broadband access is not a luxury—it is an essential tool that must be available for all Texans...that’s why I am making the expansion of broadband access an emergency item this session.”

We are tracking two broadband bills, HB425 and SB154, both seek to establish funds to begin to pay for the expansion of rural broadband. No bills have yet been introduced to address a state-wide broadband plan. 

Liability protection from COVID-related lawsuits
Governor Abbott also promised to promote legislation to protect Texas businesses from frivolous lawsuits, provided the business is following CDC and state Health Department guidelines to protect customers and employees as much as possible.

“This will be an emergency item this session…there’s far more to do to help business owners and their employees. They have gone above and beyond throughout the pandemic to open and to operate safely. And yet, those same businesses now face the crosshairs of lawsuits. Texas businesses that have operated in good faith shouldn’t have their livelihoods destroyed by frivolous lawsuits. I am asking the Legislature to quickly get a bill to my desk that provides civil liability protections for individuals, businesses, and healthcare providers that operated safely during the pandemic."

Republicans in Congress have pushed for federal legislation to accomplish the same goal. It appears that effort is now stalled indefinitely. Enacting this legislation on the state level is another demonstration of the business-friendly climate we have in Texas.

The Governor concluded by saying, “Just as Texans have united and put their differences aside to support one another through the pandemic, we in the capitol must also come make our state healthier, safer, freer, and more prosperous for all who call Texas home."
Coming to Order
Committee Assignments Announced for Legislators
Lt Governor Dan Patrick announced committee assignments for the Texas State Senate on January 18. Our local senators received the following assignments:

  • Jane Nelson (R, Dist. 12): Chair, Finance; member, State Affairs, Ports
  • Kelly Hancock (R,Dist. 9): Chair, Business & Commerce; member, Transportation, Finance, Redistricting, Natural Resources & Economic Development
  • Beverly Powell (D, Dist 10.): Member, Education, Health & Human Resources, State Affairs, Water Agriculture & Rural Affairs
House Committees Announced for 87th Texas House
Speaker Dade Phelan made good on his promise to have Democrats chair House Committees this session. Democrats will chair 15 of the 36 committees including Public Education (Harold Dutton of Houston) and Business and Industry (Chris Turner of Grand Prairie). Committee Chairpersons in the Texas House have a great deal of control over whether a bill gets a hearing and gets out of committee. 

Three members of the Coalition of East Tarrant Chamber delegation in the House of Representatives will chair committees in the 87th Texas Legislature: Turner, Matt Krause (R) who will Chair the Committee on General Investigating and Stephanie Klick who will chair Public Health. 

Our local representatives received the following assignments (updated January 23):
  • Stephanie Klick (R, Dist. 91): Chair, Public Health; member, House Administration, Human Services, General Investigation
  • Jeff Cason (R, Dist.92): Member, County Affairs, Land & Resource Management
  • Matt Krause (R, Dist. 93): Chair, General Investigating; member, Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, Culture Recreation and Tourism
  • Giovanni Capriglione (R, Dist. 98): Member, Appropriations, Pension Investments & Financial Services
Economic Development
The Economy and Texas Business Climate
In his State of the State address, Governor Abbott praised the legislature for pro-business policies that foster a successful business climate. He said,

“Texas has been ranked the number one state for business for 16 straight years. For the past eight years, we led the nation in economic development. And we have led America in exports for 18 straight years.

The Texas model inspires entrepreneurs and innovators, attracts job creators from across the country.

In the past year, Fortune 500 companies like: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle, and Charles Schwab all relocated their headquarters to Texas, and transformational leaders like Tesla picked Texas for their next generation of innovation. It’s not just large cities that benefit. In Amarillo, they are seeing the most economic development activity in the last 30 years. The same can be said for communities across the state.

Most importantly though, the cornerstone of our economic success is the small businesses in every community across Texas.

Nine out of ten businesses in Texas are small and they employ nearly half of all working Texans. Because of their prowess, this time last year Texas was number one in America for the most new jobs."
Bill to Reform and Reauthorize School District Economic Incentives Filed
Chairman Jim Murphy filed HB1556 to reform and reauthorize Chapter 313, the part of the tax code that allows school districts to participate in Economic Development incentives for large capital investments in Texas. It has been clearly demonstrated by data that without school district property tax incentives, Texas is at a significant disadvantage compared to states with which we compete for large capital investments. Chapter 313 has provided those incentives, but it has been far from perfect. Click here to read full article.

Texas needs school district participation in economic incentives to attract large investments of capital. This bill not only continues that successful incentive, but largely cleans up parts of the program that have needed an overhaul.
Budget & Taxes
In the address, Governor Abbott also pledged a balanced budget with no new taxes. He said, “To say the least, we must balance the state budget without increasing taxes. I want to thank Senators Nelson and Hinojosa, as well as Representatives Capriglione and Longoria for their financial stewardship this last year to put Texas in a position to achieve those goals.”
Sales Tax Revenue in January 2021
On February 1st, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said state sales tax revenue totaled $3.07 billion in January, 0.3 percent less than in January 2020. The majority of January sales tax revenue is based on sales made in December and remitted to the agency in January. That compares to:

  • December collections were 2.86 billion, 5 percent less than December 2019
  • November collections were $2.98 billion, 6.3 percent less than in November 2019
  • October collections were $2.72 billion, 3.5 percent less than in October 2019
  • September collections were $2.57 billion, 6.1 percent less than in September 2019
  • August collections were $2.82 billion, 5.6 percent less than in August 2019
  • July collections were $2.98 billion; 4.3 percent more than July 2019
  • June collections were $2.67 billion, down 6.5 percent from June 2019
  • May collections were $2.16 billion, 13.2 percent less than May 2019
Comptroller Hegar said, “The slight decline in total sales tax revenue masks starkly contrasting results among economic sectors, with strong gains in collections from retail trade offset by continued deep declines in collections from recreational services and the oil- and gas-related sectors. Stay-at-home spending trends that emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continued through the Christmas shopping season, with elevated receipts coming from online vendors, electronics and appliance stores, building materials and home furnishings stores, big box general merchandisers and sporting goods stores.
 
While oil and gas well drilling activity has risen from lows reached earlier in the pandemic, the December active rotary rig count for Texas was still more than 60 percent lower than a year ago, depressing sales tax receipts from mining, construction, manufacturing and equipment rental and leasing businesses.

Receipts from restaurants also remained below levels seen a year ago, while receipts from recreational services - such as live music venues, amusement parks, bowling centers and fitness clubs - remained severely depressed.”
 
  • Total sales tax revenue for the three months ending in January 2020 was down 3.9 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

  • Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 59 percent of all tax collections. 

Texas Budget - Key Priorities
Governor Abbott Releases 2022-2023- February 5, 2021

Governor Greg Abbott released his budget for the 2022-2023 biennium. The Governor's budget ensures that the State of Texas continues to build on the critical progress made in public school finance, property tax reform, disaster preparedness, school safety, and numerous other achievements of previous legislatures. It also ensures that Texas has the ability to look toward the future as our economy moves beyond the pandemic and the state makes critical investments without raising taxes on hardworking Texans. Click here to view the Governor's full budget report.
We're working for you!
The Chamber's Board has five goal teams. One of these teams is Business Advocacy, and it is chaired by Jim Griffin. 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.
Mark Your Calendar
Tarrant County is going to the Capitol virtually this year!
Members of the Coalition of Tarrant County are joining together to hear from legislators during Tarrant County Days, and it promises to be a full two days. A tentative schedule of appearances will be announced before the event. Registration is required because seats are limited. You will receive your access code closer to the event. This event is a benefit of your Chamber membership, and all registrants will have their membership verified.
February 23rd and February 24th
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Virtual Event
Thank You to Our 2021 Business Advocacy Sponsors:
Sponsorship does not necessarily imply endorsement of the Chamber's policy positions.