AUSTIN – Friday is the final day for state lawmakers to file bills to be considered in the 89th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature. It is the 60th day of the 140-day session.
Certain emergency or local bills may be introduced, but it is fair to say that this week is the final time for filing the most significant and impactful legislation.
Friday also is the day that both the House and Senate can begin voting on all non-emergency bills. The only votes which have taken place so far are on the less-than-a-dozen issues identified by Gov. Greg Abbott as emergencies.
The four top focus issues in the Chamber’s Legislative Agenda include:
Water, of course, is one area upon which we work hard to support. We all know water frequently is scarce in these parts, so we agree with Sen. Perry that a combination of resources and processes are needed to fulfill the upcoming needs of Texas.
Infrastructure, with particular attention to energy, is another top priority. We support an “all the above’ energy strategy that is balanced, cost-effective and efficient to ensure consistent and reliable power across Texas. We strongly support Abilene Christian University’s demonstration reactor project and the $125 million request to fund the completion of its construction.
Education, from pre-kindergarten through college, is one of the largest contributing factors to individual, business and community success. We support a level of adequate funding for pre-K through 12th grade schools which will provide students with learning for their future needs and more appropriate compensation for teachers and staff. In addition, we strongly support funding the requests being made by the state institutions with campuses in Abilene.
Childcare equals workforce. That’s a simple statement, but it is so true. If you cannot find sufficient childcare, it is almost impossible to hold a job outside the home. We support significantly increased funding for the expansion of childcare facilities and staffing to meet the needs of an expanding, quality workforce.
As a part of our strategy for this, and most other sessions, a couple of weeks ago, we led a group of about 20 Abilenians from a variety of businesses for Big Country Day at the Capitol. We had meetings with State Rep. Stan Lambert and his staff, staff members for Sen. Charles Perry (who was attending a Senate Finance Committee meeting), panel discussions on higher education and infrastructure and meetings with a variety of business lobbyists and advocates.
Members of our group had numerous opportunities to delve deeper into the issues and express their stances on them.
Advocacy is the top function of the Abilene Chamber. We are working on the city level, the state level and the federal level for local business.