The future of Texas has never been brighter. As the Lone Star State breaks record after record for economic growth and innovation, state leaders are providing the opportunity, workforce, infrastructure, resources and freedom to deliver the dream of a Texas-size tomorrow.
San Antonio is attracting innovative businesses like Synthica Energy’s new food waste-powered renewable natural gas facility in Northeast San Antonio. Soil-based indoor farming company Soli Organic is building a high-tech, automated indoor farm and packing facility, while Solidia Technologies is relocating its headquarters from New Jersey to San Antonio.
Texas is the new headquarter of headquarters. Our pro-business policies have catapulted relocations of businesses large and small. Since I took office in 2015, more than 260 businesses have relocated their headquarters to Texas. As the world’s ninth-largest economy, Texas has earned the title of Best State for Business by Chief Executive Magazine for a record-breaking 18 years in a row. This extraordinary economic growth puts more Texans on the path to prosperity through higher wages and unprecedented opportunities for advancement.
More Texans are working than ever before. Opportunity awaits anyone looking for it. We are home to 20 percent of the nation’s Hispanic business owners, 1 in 10 Black business owners and 1.25 million women business owners. In fact, Texas ranks among the top states for women-led startups.
Business leaders across the globe recognize the highly skilled, talented workforce that makes Texas second to none. That workforce is bolstered with career-training programs such as our Jobs and Education for Texans Grant Program that goes to public high schools, and community and technical colleges to prepare students for high-demand careers in emerging industries.
With per-student funding for public schools at an all-time high, young Texans are on track for more promising futures. Texas is No. 1 in National Blue Ribbon Schools and Tier One research universities. We will combine that success with transformative educational reforms to ensure students are ready to successfully enter the workforce or go to college. Importantly, we will ensure parents remain the primary decision-makers in their child’s education for the brightest future possible.
To meet the needs of our thriving state, we must build infrastructure for the future. Whether it’s committing nearly $10 billion in low-interest loans to communities for water supply projects through the Statewide Water Implementation Fund for Texas or the Governor’s Broadband Development Council working to address broadband access in rural areas, the state of Texas is laying the foundation for lasting progress.
In August, Texas adopted an unprecedented $85 billion, 10-year statewide roadway construction plan to improve safety on our roadways, and address congestion and rural connectivity across the state. In October, the second segment of the five Loop 1604 North expansion projects broke ground, and will increase mobility, reduce congestion and enhance safety for drivers through roadway improvements.
Texans deserve to feel safe in their communities. President Joe Biden’s reckless border policies jeopardize the security of not only Texas but the entire nation. Since I launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, the unprecedented border security mission has led to more than 336,000 migrant apprehensions, and the seizure of enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman, and child in America.
Texas is aggressively combating the deadly scourge of fentanyl poisonings, which is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, according to a Washington Post analysis. I designated Mexican drug cartels that smuggle fentanyl as terrorist organizations and signed a law that makes it a felony to make or distribute fentanyl. And this fall, the state of Texas launched a comprehensive “One Pill Kills” campaign to raise public awareness of fentanyl’s deadly impact.
Texans’ famed ingenuity is leading the fight in this national crisis. Researchers at the University of Houston developed a groundbreaking fentanyl vaccine with the potential to save millions of lives. This upcoming session, lawmakers will consider additional laws to protect Texans from deadly fentanyl pouring across our border.
As we enter 2023 with an unprecedented budget surplus, we must seize the opportunity to provide Texans with desperately needed property tax relief. Recent property tax reforms laid the foundation to help overburdened property owners with their tax bills. I will work with lawmakers this session on the best strategy to provide the largest property tax cut in Texas history.
Whether it’s economic opportunity or policies ensuring our continued freedom and prosperity, Texas leads the nation. With the grit and determination Texans are known for, we will continue to confront any challenges that lies ahead as our great state continues upholding the American dream.
Greg Abbott is governor of Texas.