HOU2ATX: Business Leaders Host Reception for Legislators in Austin

Published Feb 15, 2019 by Julia McGowen

To celebrate the 86th Legislative Session, the Partnership traveled to Austin with board members and Houston business leaders to take part in key events around the Capitol.

The trip began at historic Hotel Ella where members of the Partnership board, 2019 Board Chair, Scott McClelland, and Partnership President and CEO, Bob Harvey, gathered to host a special reception for Houston’s legislative delegation, allowing the Partnership the opportunity to demonstrate our support as legislators work to address policy issues critical to the Houston region.

Aptly, this event was held on the same day that Governor Greg Abbott delivered his State of the State address to both chambers of the Texas Legislature. The Governor’s speech featured the declaration of public school finance reform and disaster response as emergency items this session. This designation allows lawmakers to work more quickly on these issues, and more importantly, signals a sense of urgency to deliver meaningful solutions. These emergency items align with the Partnership’s top two executive priorities this session, and we were pleased with the Governor’s designation. The Partnership’s statement on Governor Abbott’s emergency items is available here.

The reception meaningfully showed our region’s support for our state delegation on key issues, particularly school finance reform and flood resilience. For the duration of session, the Partnership will work closely with statewide leadership and members of the Legislature on these issues and are optimistic as policymaking activity accelerates in Austin.

The Partnership and Houston business leaders also hosted Senate Education Committee Chairman Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) for a discussion on public school finance reform in the historic Texas Appeals Court. Chairman Taylor expressed optimism that significant reform would pass this legislative session and was confident that he and his counterpart, House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty (R-Kingwood), had identified similar priorities to include in their respective pieces of legislation. In addition, the group heard from Texas Education Agency staff regarding Hurricane Harvey school finance supplemental appropriations. As our region knows too well, the storm devastated many of our school campuses, causing students to have to move to temporary facilities and share classrooms in surrounding schools. To date, $540 million in estimated damages have been reported by schools.

HOU2ATX was punctuated with an evening reception for members and legislative staff near the Capitol in celebration of the Houston region. We thank the Partnership members who participated in the events throughout the week, and we look forward to continuing to work alongside business leaders and legislators on issues critical to Texas’ long-term growth and vitality.