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Infrastructure investment was the theme for the 89th Texas Legislature, said Texas Sen. Tan Parker, all blocking and tackling, “no high fives and fist bumps,” at the Metrocrest Area Chamber Legislative Update on Thursday, Dec. 4.
The Metrocrest Area Chamber offered residents and business owners in the area an opportunity to hear from about the 89th Texas Legislature at Dallas College. About 40 attended.
Advocacy is an essential part of the chamber of commerce, said Cristal Retana Lule, chair of for the Metrocrest Area Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee. “We want to make sure the voice of business is part of our advocacy efforts.”
Andrea Coker, chief advocacy officer for the North Texas Commission, moderated the fireside chat format.
Parker cited $20 billion invested into water infrastructure, expanded broadband service and $8.5 billion in “new money” for K-12 education as wins for the state, specifically in the areas of security, teacher pay and special needs.
“$8.5 billion for public education in Texas was a big, big deal,” he said.
He said the implementation of H.B.-1481, which required all schools to have a policy prohibiting student use of personal communication devices on school property by Sept. 18, was a win. “What is property screen time for our kids?” he asked.
He also called the state’s new school choice voucher system “innovative” and said it would strengthen the entire education system.
He also pointed out education, especially technical and vocational training, as important and said that one of his top priorities has been allowing workers to become certified in their areas in six months or less.
“We can’t continue to be the home of American business if we don’t have workforce as well,” he said.
Turning his attention to other areas of infrastructure, he said the legislature did a lot of work in regard to transportation, the workforce and the grid.
He apologized for the failure of the entire Texas electrical grid during Winter Storm Uri. “I apologize to all of you for what happened the winter of 2021. That never should have happened, and it was an abject failure of the government.”
He said he is still concerned about the state’s lack of large-scale electrical storage and said that natural gas power plants are needed to provide additional capacity for dispatchable electricity.
Parker addressed the concerns that data centers require a large amount of energy. “We’ve had to find creative ways to address all their generation needs as well,” he said.
He said he anticipates that Texas will have a small nuclear reactor “up and running” by 2030 in response to that need.
Data centers are not only not going away, he said, but they are a huge economic driver in Texas. “Texas is the epicenter … because of the abundance of energy and the abundance of land … I hear of a new data center project once or twice a week, and it’s not slowing down,” he said. “There are pros. There are cons.”
He then turned his attention to safety, saying it was important for Texas to maintain a permanent border security function and force instead of relying on the federal government alone. He said S.B. 36, the Homeland Security Bill, would better integrate the department of public safety with other border security, emergency response and critical infrastructure protection to protect the state’s electrical grid, water systems and critical communications systems.
“Safety, at the end of the day, is always king,” he said.
Parker also discussed the Capital Market Package he introduced to the legislature in February, saying that North Texas has more financial professionals than New York.
The package included the constitutional amendment to prohibit taxes on securities transactions made on a stock exchange in Texas, which voters approved as Proposition 6 on the ballot, in November, clarification of the Texas Franchise Tax and a requirement that shareholders must own $1 million in stock of a public company before that shareholder can force other shareholders to vote on his or her proposal.
“Access to capital is what will drive our domination,” he said, adding that energy is the common denominator of who will win the race for capital. “It is the space race of our time,” he said.
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