Texas Association of Business

Austin – The Texas Association of Business today called for immediate action to expand Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) to save Texas taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year. Currently, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is prohibited from providing three Texas counties with an MMC program, a prohibition that drives up the aggregate health care costs of all Texans.

What the state has today is a system of increasing inequities in the cost and in the quality of health care, all while wasting taxpayer money. The HHSC has calculated that extending MMC to the South Texas …

San Antonio – Leaders from the Texas Association of Business (TAB), National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today held a joint-press conference to denounce the current incarnation of health care reform being negotiated by Congress.  The leaders called upon Congressmen Ciro Rodriguez and Henry Cuellar to reject the legislation. 

The House legislation will require employers to provide health insurance for the employees or pay an eight percent payroll penalty. The Senate version, which could be worse, would require companies with more th…

Austin —The Environmental Protection Agency endangerment finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare sets a dangerous precedent that allows the executive branch to threaten the entire country and our economy, essentially saying to Congress: pass a cap-and-trade climate bill… or else. The uncertain status of the science of climate change and the public health effects of greenhouse gases demand that EPA establish far more justification for this action than it has shown so far. The threat this finding poses to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs…

(Austin) –“Comptroller Susan Combs’ revised estimate of our state’s emergency savings fund from $9.1 billion to $8.2 billion highlights the need for our state and legislative leaders to act in concert to stave off new taxes and fees and to resist the short-term solutions that upended California’s state economy.  As a result of the impending budget shortfall, every state entity and agency must start now to cut costs and reduce expenses.

 “I applaud the economic stewardship of Governor Rick Perry, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, Speaker Straus and the T…

Austin —The following statement may be attributed to Texas Association of Business (TAB) President Bill Hammond:

On behalf of the Texas Association of Business and employers across the state, I applaud the courage of Congressman Chet Edwards for voting against the government-takeover of health care insurance. This tax increases in this bill directly targets the small business owners while still leaving millions ineligible for health insurance. Congressman Edwards listened to his constituents and is doing what is right for the employers of Texas by opposing this trillion dollar governmen…

The Texas business community has an essential role in the public dialogue on education. Why: Because Texas employers are the overwhelming consumers of the education system. Our state’s ability to produce an educated workforce affects whether companies will locate their operations in Texas. To date, our state has been successful in attracting and retaining some of the most influential companies in America.

To build upon that success, Texas must address the most looming challenge facing our state: educating and preparing our booming Hispanic population to enter the workforce or pursue a po…

(AUSTIN) — The Texas Association of Business (TAB) today released For the Record, the Association’s biennial lawmaker scorecard rating on how legislators voted on critical business issues. The scorecard used twelve votes to score state senators and eleven votes to score state representatives.

“Despite an altered partisan composition in the House and Senate, the 81^st Legislative Session was a true victory for the Texas business community,” said TAB President Bill Hammond. “In the midst of unprecedented economic turmoil, Texas made the tough decisions necessary to…

As you may know, on Tuesday, November 3, voters will decide on 11 amendments to the Texas Constitution. Unlike the U. S. Constitution, our Texas Constitution is a very long and detailed document. Since its original adoption in 1876, voters have often been called upon to make changes to the Texas Constitution and have approved more than 400 changes. These amendments are not subject to a Governor's Veto. As you can see, the amendments on the upcoming ballot cover a wide range of issues, from important to relatively trivial.

Proposition 1

"The constitutional amendment authorizing the financin…

Set against the backdrop of the current economic turmoil facing our nation, the Census Bureau findings that Texas ranks highest in the number of adults 25-plus without a high school education are both disheartening and unsurprising.

For years, our state has been captive to a broken education system that will without question jeopardize Texas’’standing as an economic powerhouse. Many of our schools continue to be dropout factories and our diplomas don’t ensure that our children are truly educated and ready for the next step in their lives.

Sunlight on these issues is the bes…

“The Texas Association of Business has long considered Senator John Cornyn one of its champions of the business community, employers and hardworking Texas families. Senator Cornyn’s vote in favor of an amendment that would stop the federal government from funding the controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) organization highlights his commitment to taxpayers.”

“ACORN has been mired in controversy and its continued eligibility for federal funding was absolutely mind-boggling. This vote was critical to the men and women of Texas. Our …