As in every legislative session, there were wins and losses. The Governor still has the opportunity to veto some of the bills sent to him so most things are not yet final. Baring a veto, here are some of the best outcomes.
Public education was one of our top priorities. The major funding that passed last session in HB3 was maintained for the next budget. House Bill 1525 made minor adjustments in HB3 to correct mistakes and oversights in the original drafting of HB3. In addition major funding from the federal government will provide our school districts with money to remediate students from the classroom time lost to the pandemic. A very good set of outcomes.
Three bills passed which together will improve the chances for students to enroll in dual credit courses and choose them more carefully so as to actually reduce the time and cost to achieve a degree after high school.
We were determined to improve access to broadband in rural Texas and in the broadband deserts that exist in most metro areas. The goal is to improve access to distance learning, telemedicine and expand opportunities for remote employment. Passing HB5 will create a “Broadband Plan” for the state. We were one of only 6 states without a plan. It is a good step in the right direction.
We set a goal to “support funds for retraining of displaced workers to help get our economy moving again”. SB1102 which provides funds for upskilling and reskilling 30,000 adult workers, with a goal of getting them industry recognized certificates within 6 weeks to 6 months, passed and is on the Governor’s desk. The work will be done by Texas Community Colleges in conjunction with employers.
We had two main goals in transportation infrastructure: protect the dedicated funds for transportation set aside by propositions 1 and 7 and support innovative methods for funding transportation and water infrastructure projects. No attempts were made to pull back funding from prop1 and 7. Although we supported 7 bills that would have impacted creative ways to finance infrastructure, only one passed. It was HJR 99 which, if approved by voters, will allow tax increment financing to be used to build roads and bridges. This is a really innovative tool and if the referendum is successful, we will provide more information about how it will work.
The largest disappointment from the session, school districts ability to participate in economic development incentives will be allowed to sunset on December 31, 2022. There is an outside chance some form of continuation may be worked into the special session on redistricting this fall. If not, nine days after the ability expires, the 88th Texas Legislative session will gavel in and we can have another go at it.
Couple the power grid troubles with the lack of property tax incentives and Texas is sending a pretty negative signal to large manufacturing site selectors.